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Essex College is back in session with new shenanigans and chaos for the four roommates Kimberly Finkle (Pauline Chalamet), Bela Malhotra (Amrit Kaur), Leighton Murray (Reneé Rapp) and Whitney Chase (Alyah Chanelle Scott).

Sophomore year presents an endless array of parties and other events to attend at Essex, which means plenty of opportunities for needle drops in Season 3 of the series created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble.

The first episode starts off strong with a Chappell Roan song followed closely by a Cher anthem in a fun night out for the girls.

Find the full Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 soundtrack below:

Episode 1 – “Welcome Back to Essex”

“BET” by Mette “For Keeps” by Preston Pablo “So Much” by Louis La Roche “Un Deux Trois, Ça Va?” by Teddi Gold “Don’t Stop (Gimme Some)” by Hotline “Talk to Me (feat. Bambie” by Fabich & Jafunk “Super Graphic Ultra Modern...

Hollywood has been borderline obsessed with Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal for over half a century. Plenty of presidents or watershed legislative decisions have gotten adaptations, but given the recency of his crimes, Nixon is on another level. There have been 24 feature films centered on Nixon and/or Watergate, and that's not including the recent influx of prestige miniseries like 2023's "The White House Plumbers" about Nixon's political saboteurs, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy or 2022's "Gaslit," the Julia Roberts-starring series about Martha Mitchell, the wife of Nixon's at-the-time United States Attorney General.

I was born in 1990, which means my understanding of Nixon until, say, my junior year of high school, was what I had absorbed from pop culture. My introduction to Nixon's resignation speech was when it played over the radio in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and I learned about all of his specific...

“I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. “Deal with it.”

Every high school has them: the beautiful ones. Glamorous, popular, happy, and thriving, these teenage dream girls rise to the top of any social environment and effortlessly achieve anything they put their minds to. Serving as both role models and fashion plates, they’re worshiped and revered by the rest of the school who grasp for scraps of their exorbitant power. While there have always been mean girls who also happen to be popular, this cinematic archetype arguably dates back to the weaponized girlie pop perfection of Darren Stein‘s Jawbreaker . Closing out the 20th century, this high camp film originated the now iconic hot girl walk while exploring the hell of teenage girlhood.

The social scene of Reagan High School bows to a foursome of gorgeous queen bees. While Courtney (Rose McGowan) rules the school with a patented brand of kink-tinged high-fashion cruelty,...

What do a pregnant Arnold Schwarzenegger, a pansexual soccer himbo, a horny orangutan (with a dubious grasp on consent), and the impeccably dressed mean girls from “Jawbreaker” have in common? In addition to being our dream blunt rotation, they’re the sort of cinematic heroes you could only find hanging out together at IndieWire After Dark.

Our weekly midnight movie series — exploring the funkiest fringe cinema from any time or place in film — was made for weirdo cinephiles who can’t bear to sit through another “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Every Friday nights, we take a feature-length beat to discuss an unapologetically bold movie falling through the cracks in the streaming age. From boundary-pushing new works to insane misfires of yesteryear, this rewatch club exists to remind genre obsessives everywhere that, yes, there is always, always, always something you haven’t seen before.

The idea of a “midnight film” is still cool but anachronistic.

Actress Christina Moore took over the role of Laurie Forman from Lisa Robin Kelly during season 6, but many fans still wonder why the original Laurie left That '70s Show. The That '70s Show Laurie character was the older sister of Eric (Topher Grace) and the daughter of Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp). Laurie came off as extremely manipulative, and her parents didn't have the highest expectations of their daughter, but it was clear she was Red's favorite. Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) was one of Laurie's many secret flings, despite Kelso dating Jackie (Mila Kunis).

However, although Laurie was involved in many plot points, in the middle of That '70s Show season 3, Laurie seemingly disappeared. Laurie actor Lisa Robin Kelly was then written out of That '70s Show cast when her character went off to beauty school. Thanks to her time on the sitcom, Kelly was getting more roles such as Charmed,...

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Cheerleaders Gone… Bank Robbing?

The year 2000 was the New Hollywood of cheerleaders in film. After years of movies in which teen girls with pom poms were reduced to one-note bitches and bimbos, Y2K saw the easy-to-stereotype athletes receive a sudden rush of cinematic respect with Peyton Reed’s instant classic “Bring It On.”

Starring Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union, the story of a rivalry between two cheer squads combined an authentic love for the (extremely grueling) work of cheer captains with fun flirty comedy and a surprisingly intelligent depiction of cultural appropriation.

Without hyperbole, Michael Patrick Jann ("The State") and Lona Williams' ("Sugar & Spice") mockumentary comedy film about a small-town Minnesota beauty pageant is my favorite comedy film, ever. As a former teenage Midwest beauty queen myself, "Drop Dead Gorgeous" speaks to me on a religious level. My blood is not red, it is Mount Rose, and I am an American Teen Princess Pageant girl for life. "Drop Dead Gorgeous" turns 25 this year — one of the many teen girl masterpieces released in 1999 — but is still criminally underseen due to the film's poor box office performance at the time of release and subsequent years of physical releases being out of print. It's a shame because the cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney, Kirstie Alley, Denise Richards, Brittany Murphy, Amy Adams (her debut role!), Alexandra Holden, Nora Dunn, Mo Gaffney, Will Sasso, Matt Malloy, Mike McShane, Mindy Sterling, Sam McMurray, and...

Stars Mark Hamill and Judy Greer join the cast of The Long Walk, an adaptation of the 1979 Stephen King novel of the same name, produced by Lionsgate.

They'll be welcomed into the supporting cast with Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick and Roman Griffin Davis, according to Deadline. The leading men of the film will be Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. It will be directed by Francis Lawrence, known for directing The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Related Shelley Duvall Saved One of Stephen King's Best Adaptations

The Shining overcame early critical indifference to become one of the best horror movies ever made. Shelley Duvall's Wendy Torrence gives it a soul.

Mark Hamill has had a long and storied career. While he became a household name due to his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars films,...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including events for Cobra Kai, UnPrisoned and Gucci.

Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project Block Party

Charlize Theron hosted her annual Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project Block Party on the Universal Studios backlot on Saturday, which both supported her organization and celebrated the upcoming release of Twisters with stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Lainey Wilson and Charlize Theron Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell

Cobra Kai season 6 premiere

Netflix celebrated part 1 of the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai in Los Angeles on Wednesday, with cast members Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Xolo Maridueña, Jacob Bertrand, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan, Peyton List and Gianni Decenzo.

Executive producers Josh Heald, William Zabka, Ralph Macchio, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg Gianni DeCenzo, Xolo Maridueña, Jacob Bertrand, Peyton List and Mary Mouser

Jawbreaker 25th anniversary celebration

F.L.U.I.D.,...

The cast of the cult classic movie Jawbreaker reunited to talk about the film. It comes as the movie celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2024.

There have been many films satirizing the cutthroat politics of American high schools, from Heathers to Mean Girls. While far less well-known, Jawbreaker was just as influential as any of those films. It is a cult classic in the truest sense of the word. Now, the cast has reunited to speak with Interview Magazine about all things Jawbreaker. When asked why the film is still worth talking about today, the cast spoke about how timeless its depiction of high school is. One of the stars, Julie Benz, said of director Darren Stein, "I think that Darren did such a great job of creating a heightened version of high school life that everyone can relate to. The fashion, the music, all the elements are just classic and timeless.

It’s the first day of Amazon’s annual Prime Day, with hundreds of products discounted — including prices slashed on horror movies!

We’ve rounded up some of the scariest deals for you…

4K Ultra HD Collections:

The Mummy Trilogy – $26.99 The Shining / 2001: A Space Odyssey / Full Metal Jacket – $29.99 Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection Vol. 1 – $32.99 Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection Vol. 2 – $34.99 The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Vol. 1 – $33.99 The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Vol. 2 – $34.99 Batman: 4-Film Collection (1989-1997) – $39.99 Resident Evil Collection – $56.49 The Toxic Avenger Collection – $72.50 Rosemary’s Baby / Pet Sematary / Crawl / Smile / Sweeney Todd – $74.49 Universal Classic Monsters: Limited Edition 8-Film Collection – $99.99

Steelbook 4K UHDs:

Insidious – $15.37 Last Action Hero – $17.55 Fright Night – $20.99 King Kong (1976) – $26.49 Friday the 13th: 8-Movie Collection – $29.99 Ghostbusters / Ghostbusters II – $33.99

Individual 4K UHDs:

Brawl In Cell Block 99 – $8.99 Get Out – $9.99 The Thing – $10.99 Escape from L.A. – $10.99 Cloverfield – $10.99 Pacific Rim – $10.99 Godzilla vs. Kong – $10.99 A Quiet Place...

A quarter of a century later, the high camp fashion of 1999’s Jawbreaker still has a chokehold on fans of the cult classic.

While reuniting for the Darren Stein-helmed teen movie’s 25th anniversary, Jawbreaker stars Judy Greer and Julie Benz looked back on their wardrobe from the set of the film and what they took home.

“I had some clothes for a little while, but I don’t remember what happened to them,” Greer told People after playing Fern Mayo, an awkward nerd who gets made over into the popular Vylette. “I had one of my ‘Vylette’ posters and I think it’s in a big tub of work mementos.”

Benz, who played mean girl minion Marcie “Foxy” Fox, recalled she “got to keep one outfit and it was the red, lacy, yellowy-orange top and skirt, and I think I wore that like 80 times until it fell apart.

Coming later this month from Archie Comics is the one-shot Chilling Adventures Presents: Truth or Dare, billed as an homage to the late ’90s/early ’00s teen horror wave.

This brand new tale is part of Archie’s “Chilling Adventures Presents” anthology series, dedicated to standalone one-shots with the vibe of Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt.

In Truth or Dare, “When new student Trula Twyst comes to Riverdale, her mysterious and quiet nature doesn’t mix well with the squeaky-clean façade of Riverdale High. Tormented by her past and with a keen interest in Behavioral Psychology, she sets her sights on dismantling the traditional high school hierarchy from within. How? By a simple game of Truth or Dare.”

The Archie Comics team tells Bloody Disgusting this week, “This horror one shot is smart, sexy, and for fans of movies like Escape Room, Saw, and Girl, Interrupted.”

Truth or Dare was written by Ron Robbins,...

Exclusive: Marketing executive and entrepreneur Akbar Hamid in collaboration with indie film distribution executive Evan Schwartz are set to launch F.L.U.I.D., a production company, film fund and community resource dedicated to centering Lgbtqia+ filmmakers, storytellers and artists.

F.L.U.I.D. will formally launch Friday with an event following the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ 25th anniversary screening and cast reunion of the 1999 cult classic Jawbreaker, written and directed by Darren Stein. F.L.U.I.D. is a community partner for the event, part of its mission is to showcase the growing demand for compelling queer narratives to the underserved Lgbtqia+ audience.

F.L.U.I.D. — the acronym stands for “Fierce, Liberating, Unique Intersection of Diversity” — is envisioned as a collective of exclusively Lgbtqia+ creators, producers, talent and community advocates who share a commitment to authentic representation for marginalized voices. The company plans to fundraise this year with efforts to invest...

Cult classics from the 1990s offer unique perspectives on popular culture, fashion, and society of the era, resonating with audiences today. Films like Clueless and Office Space serve as time capsules of the '90s, tackling themes of disillusionment, self-discovery, and societal critiques. The movies capture the essence of the decade through quirky characters, unconventional narratives, and memorable soundtracks, shaping cinema history.

Cult classics from the 1990s are perfect for capturing the era, offering unique and influential glimpses through distinct perspectives. They continue to maintain dedicated fan bases and significant cultural relevance even today. These films, often characterized by their quirky characters, unconventional narratives, and memorable soundtracks, encapsulate the essence of the decade's popular culture, fashion, and social dynamics. From the iconic fashion statements seen in movies like Clueless to the biting corporate satire of Office Space, these movies provide a window into the hopes, fears, and desires of a...

The British Film Institute has partnered with film animation studio Laika to start its event series Stop Motion: Celebrating Hand-Crafted Animation On The Big Screen, which will offer free screenings for children under 16 and include Laika’s five films to date: “Coraline” (2009), “Paranorman” (2012), “The Boxtrolls” (2014), “Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016) and “Missing Link” (2019), all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for outstanding animated feature.

The season, curated by BFI Southbank Lead Programmer Justin Johnson, will take place from Aug. 1 through Oct. 9. Additional titles playing on the big screen throughout the season will include “King Kong” (1933), “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963), “Chicken Run” (2001), “Corpse Bride” (2005), “Coraline” (2009), “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009) and “Anomalisa” (2015).

A free exhibition at BFI Southbank, Laika: Frame x Frame, will also run and showcase the art, science and innovation of the studio’s films. The exhibition will allow visitors an exclusive look at puppets, sets and artifacts from...

The Prank. Those delightful, seemingly harmless little tricks we play on others for a laugh. But tread carefully, for the line between playful jest and horrific disaster is perilously thin. These seven horror movies with pranks gone wrong take the concept of the lighthearted prank and twist it into something lethal. We’re talking about more than just whoopee cushions and fake spiders; these are pranks with consequences so severe they’re measured in screams, not giggles.

From high school gags that end in gorefests to sinister plots with deadly outcomes, each prank horror movie in this list shows how quickly the fun can turn fatal. So, prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of deceit and dread, where the next laugh might be your last, and the punchline is always death.

See AlsoHorror Movie ListsMeet the Creeper: Ranking Every One of Rob Zombie’s Horror Movie Hits Astral Films 7. Prom Night...

In almost every movie or show that revolves around the high school experience, there is a character that embodies the "mean girl" archetype, the most famous of which is arguably Regina George of the appropriately named 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls and the 2024 movie musical of the same name. The mean girl, or queen bee archetype, can be a one-note villain whose sole purpose is to torment the protagonist. This over-the-top character rules the school with an iron fist, and sometimes, is also a complicated young woman who purposely uses an icy exterior to mask deep-seated insecurities. The 1989 cult classic Heathers paved the way for later films that explore queen bees and their place in the high school social hierarchy, like Mean Girls, Jawbreaker, and Jennifer's Body, and popular teen shows like Gossip Girl and Riverdale. The trope continues to evolve along with the genre, and one of the most unique...

Drive-Away Dolls, the new film directed by Ethan Coen, which he coscripted with his partner Tricia Cooke, is a lot of things. First, it's a throwback, in every sense of the word, to the late 90s and early aughts, when teen-oriented movies had names like Dick or Dude, Where's My Car? It was an era in which a near-endless multitude of movies was oriented around scenes that played like half-baked sketches from the SNL slush pile, with only a wisp of plot to give the illusion that something was actually going on. For every Eyes Wide Shut, Topsy-Turvy, and Beau Trevail -- films that smack of idiosyncratic artistry -- there were dozens of titles, like Jawbreaker or But I'm a Cheerleader, that were so thoroughly enmeshed with the cultural mores of the era that they can't help but feel like essential time capsules -- especially for those, like this author,...

In January of 1999, two teen movies opened back to back and kicked off what would be one of the most extraordinary years for youth-oriented movies in the history of Hollywood. Both were No. 1 at the box office their first weekend. Both boasted remarkable casts of rising stars — they even shared a star in Paul Walker. And both whipped ancient genre conventions into new combinations that made them fresh and new. Yet for all their similarities, “Varsity Blues” and “She’s All That” couldn’t have been more different: one an R-rated sports drama that tempered its inspirational coming-of-age drama with surprisingly harsh depictions of misogyny and physical and mental abuse, the other a sweet, good-natured romantic comedy nearly as innocent as a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland vehicle from the 1940s. In their similarities and differences lies the key to why 1999 was such a great year for movies of their type — the 1939 of teen movies.

Developer Vincent Lade has announced that their upcoming stealth Survival Horror title Jawbreaker will be releasing this March for Steam and the Epic Games Store. The announcement coincides with a new trailer, as well as an updated demo for the game.

Jawbreaker is set after the “Great Economic Collapse of 2028”, where the average person is compelled to join armed groups in order to survive, engaging in battles for resources and control over what’s left of the cities of the United States. You belong to a small gang based in New Citadel City, and your bunker’s supplies are dwindling. You’ve been chosen to venture into the concrete ruins on rumours of a police station on the edge of town that’s ripe for the picking.

However, once you break into this station, you quickly realize that you’re not alone, and that you may have been set up.

Listen via: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio | Pocket Casts |Pandora | RSS

Despite what you may have heard, ska music is no joke. It’s a vital, multifaceted genre with a global impact and thriving community. The Consequence Podcast Network is proud to stake our two-toned flag on that belief by welcoming the latest addition to our roster, In Defense of Ska. Check out the trailer above, and follow the series wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted by renowned music journalist and author Aaron Carnes and veteran ska musician Adam Davis, In Defense of Ska is based on Carnes’ best-selling, soon-to-be-expanded book of the same name.

The weekly series dives deep into ska music’s rich history and unique culture to challenge mainstream misperceptions and celebrate the genre’s enduring legacy. Featuring insightful conversations with ska legends, emerging artists, comedians, and other culture figures who share Carnes and Davis’ deep appreciation for ska,...

Growing up, my father used to lament that he had two daughters, not because he wanted to play catch with a miniature version of himself or some other Beaver Cleaver nonsense, but because in his words, "Women are unpredictable." As much as I'd like to reprimand my old man's archaic line of thinking, I know what he's getting at, and I'm tickled to know that this Midwestern Italian patriarch is rightfully intimidated by women. As he should be.

Generally speaking (and when approaching gender identity through a binary lens), there's a stereotype that men solve conflict through physicality. At the same time, women are often portrayed as committing acts of mental warfare that destroy a person from the inside out. Granted, I grew up in a high school environment where watching girls throw hands was weekly lunchtime entertainment, but I recognize that by and large, most people's lived experiences paint...

We remember the Alamo. Now, the Alamo Drafthouse is going to remember for you.

The movie chain is undertaking a year-long “Time Capsules” program, featuring curated films from 1974 to 1999.

Alamo Time Capsules is “a yearlong trek back through time that revisits both beloved blockbusters and forgotten favorites spanning six landmark cinema years — 1999, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1979, and 1974. Title collections will span six to eight weeks and, rather than act as a ‘top ten list’ of films, instead will tell their part of the story of that year in cinema, culture, and history,” the chain said in its announcement.

The retrospective runs all year and will include nearly 150 different selections. Time Capsule collections will include special merchandise, custom Alamo Drafthouse menus, and special events.

First up: the year 1999 begins with films like Being John Malkovich, The Blair Witch Project, The Iron Giant, Cruel Intentions, Jawbreaker, The Matrix, and Run Lola Run.

“My first job was...

The Alamo Drafthouse is going back in time to ring in the New Year.

The cinema chain announced that starting January 5, a year-long Time Capsules program will feature curated films ranging from 1974 to 1999. Per the theater, Alamo Time Capsules is “a yearlong trek back through time that revisits both beloved blockbusters and forgotten favorites spanning six landmark cinema years — 1999, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1979, and 1974. Title collections will span six to eight weeks and, rather than act as a ‘top ten list’ of films, instead will tell their part of the story of that year in cinema, culture, and history.”

The retrospective — the largest and most comprehensive in the company’s history — runs throughout 2024 and will include nearly 150 different selections. Upcoming Time Capsule collections will include special merchandise, custom Alamo Drafthouse menus, and special events. The year 1999 kicks off the program with films like “Being John Malkovich,” “The Iron Giant,” “Cruel Intentions,” “Pretty Woman,” “Jawbreaker,...

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Can You Spoil Something This Surreal?

Few experiences surpass stumbling onto a jaw-dropping moment in film totally unspoiled. The big twist in “One Cut of the Dead.” The Fern Mayo reveal in “Jawbreaker.” Top to bottom, every second of “Titane.” These are scenes across varying genres and eras that live in my bones as electric moments I didn’t expect to see, but that reminded me why I whole-heartedly love the movies when I did. Hence, this column’s spoiler-free/spoiler-filled bifurcation.

Guy Maddin’s “The Saddest Music in the World” contains one such moment,...

In the first episode of the documentary series Spy Ops, the makers cover Operation Jawbreaker, which removed the Taliban from power in Afghanistan months after the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. The success of the operation forced Osama bin Laden to leave Afghanistan and seek refuge in Pakistan. This sets the precedent for the show, as we get to watch and understand the famous spy operations.

Prologue

Spy Ops Episode 2 is about Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, who was accused of drug trafficking and aiding many drug cartels. In December 1989, the President of the USA directed the American military to carry out extended missions in Panama to save American lives. The press conference at the White House also mentioned that they are determined to preserve the integrity of the Panama treaty signed between the two countries in 1977 and restore the democratic process after apprehending the dictator, Manuel Noriega.

It is not that often that we come across stories about how an operation was conducted by intelligence agencies. We have seen and heard about them through books and movies. Often, the characters in these are fictionalized, while other times they stick to using the names of real people. Spy Ops is a brand-new documentary series that takes the audience through several famous spy operations conducted all around the world by different intelligence agencies. The first episode is about how the Central Intelligence Agency, aka CIA, carried out ‘Operation Jawbreaker’ in Afghanistan within months of the attacks of September 11, 2001. A mission was carried out to decimate the Taliban and Al Qaeda and kill Osama bin Laden.

What Triggered The Formation Of Operation Jawbreaker?

The episode begins with Gary Schroen talking about his history of serving in Afghanistan from 1993 to 1996 and how he has established ties with Allies for his agency.

A teenager who develops supernatural powers upon coming of age is a pretty common plot device in genre fiction, from vampire and werewolf stories to Marvel's mutants, but writer-director Jennifer Reeder puts a unique artistic spin on it in Perpetrator. The essential elements of the plot involve 18-year-old Jonny (Kiah McKirnan) discovering her newfound powers and using them to take down a villain who's been abducting, torturing, and murdering teenage girls in the town where she lives. Nothing about Perpetrator is that straightforward, though, and Reeder creates a dreamlike world in which superheroes and serial killers are defined by poetic, ineffable longing as much as by power and violence.

The mannered, arch tone of Perpetrator may be off-putting to genre fans at first, but Reeder drops the audience right into her surreal vision. The opening scene features a point-of-view shot from inside a killer's mask as the mysterious figure stalks...

“Bottoms” might just be unlike anything you’ve seen before — and that’s by design.

Writer-director Emma Seligman pulled inspiration from left-of-center cult classics like “Jawbreaker” and “Wet Hot American Summer” for the Orion Pictures release, resulting in a fearless, hard-r absurdist sex comedy that’s at once violent, cringey and heartfelt — and feels boundary pushing.

Refreshingly, it doesn’t spend a minute second-guessing what it is, but Seligman admitted that’s only after tirelessly calibrating its tone with cowriter and star (and previous “Shiva Baby” collaborator) Rachel Sennott.

“That was the hardest thing about making this movie,” Seligman told TheWrap of striking the tonal balance of “Bottoms.” “Making a lot of movies, tone is really tricky to achieve — especially with a comedy — in terms of navigating how much you care about the characters, or how much emotion there should be. From writing it up until literally editing it, [we were] trying...

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Meaner Than “Mean Girls.” Hotter Than “Heathers.” Better Than Barbenheimer.

I feel like kind of a basic bitch recommending “Jawbreaker” for After Dark. Don’t get me wrong: Darren Stein’s fiendishly messed-up mean girl movie from 1999 is absolutely worth canonizing as one of the all-time great midnight movies, and generally speaking, I’ll find — and use — any excuse to rewatch this camp masterpiece faster than Carol Kane can say, “Be nice, girls.”

But it feels borderline obvious to suggest this bonafide cult classic and ode to candy-coated cruelty, widely...

(Hey, you! Yeah, you! Looking for the complete IndieWire After Dark Collection? Click here, homie!)

If a “midnight movie” is streamed on a laptop at two o’clock in the afternoon — and no one is there to obsess about it with you — is it even a midnight movie?

Some films automatically qualify as midnight movies thanks to subject matter or conceptual guts; Divine didn’t eat dog shit for you to disrespect “Pink Flamingos” (1972). Others get their genre credentials grandfathered in by decades of fans screening them; cheesy or not, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975) always counts.

But past counter-cultural phenomena can’t guide the future of the genre and weirdo film culture forever. A tradition rooted in transgression, left to wander down a sad path of static nostalgia and “The Big Lebowski” (1998) quotes, isn’t transgressive at all. And it’s not as if there’s a shortage of in-your-face cinema being produced.

A women’s self-defense club in a heightened toxic heterosexual high school? Welcome to “Bottoms.”

Rachel Sennott co-wrote the high school comedy with “Shiva Baby” director Emma Seligman. Sennott plays queer teen Pj opposite “The Bear” breakout Ayo Edebiri, who portrays Pj’s childhood bestie Josie. The duo lust after their respective crushes, Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Gerber), while trying to navigate teendom in the shadow of quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine) and his cronie, teammate Tim (Miles Fowler).

Pj and Josie accidentally found a female fight club, co-run by misfit outcast Hazel (Ruby Cruz), with the hopes to befriend (and hook up) with cheerleaders under the guise of feminism. Marshawn Lynch, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Punkie Johnson also star in the highly anticipated, R-rated summer comedy.

Writer-director Seligman told Entertainment Weekly that she opted not to rewatch “Superbad” or “American Pie” because “I think we didn’t want to be influenced by them,...

Vincent Lade dropped a small update regarding his upcoming stealth Survival Horror title Jawbreaker. With the demo for Jawbreaker having amassed over 20,000 downloads on Steam and itch.io, and over 2,000,000 views on YouTube, the game will be headed to Steam Next Fest in June.

In addition to the Steam Next Fest announcement, Lade has updated Jawbreaker with two brand new areas, a new kind of enemy type, as well as achievement-unlocking collectables.

The two new areas are “Reception”, which contains the Faceless Gang patrolling an open area full of security, and “Underground Parking”, which will include the first boss fight of the game. Speaking of the Faceless Gang, the new enemy type is the “Faceless Camera” and its subtypes.

The Faceless Cameras are placed throughout an area that will scan the environment for the player. You’ll need to use your stealth skills to avoid detection and progress through the area.

Halloween Kills brought back most of the cast from the 2018 version of Halloween as well as a couple of characters from the original movie. The original Halloween is now regarded as one of the most influential horror movies ever, spawning a long-running franchise that most recently completed a reboot trilogy, with Halloween Kills as its middle film. Halloween tells the story of Michael Myers, who on Halloween night 1963 murdered his older sister when he was just six years old. As a result, Michael was sent to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he stayed for over a decade and became Dr. Sam Loomis’ (Donald Pleasence) patient.

Fifteen years after murdering his sister, on October 30, 1978, Michael escaped and returned to his hometown Haddonfield, Illinois, where he began to stalk Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends. Laurie became the only survivor of Michael’s killing spree on Halloween night and the final girl of the franchise,...

That '70s Show is a beloved feel-good comedy that ran for eight seasons from 1998 to 2006 and established its dynamic cast as Hollywood heavy hitters. With a sensational ensemble including Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, and Kurtwood Smith, the series follows a group of Wisconsin misfits as they grow up in Point Place during the groovy decade and experience the many ups and downs of life and relationships.

In the enduring sitcom, Lisa Robin Kelly portrayed the deceitful and promiscuous blonde bombshell, Laurie, Eric’s older sister who can’t get enough of torturing her little brother and his quirky group of friends. A constant presence on the show for its first three seasons, Kelly abruptly departed That '70s Show in 2001 before a brief return for its fifth season. She was then let go from the show and the character was recast.

Many devoted fans of the comedy were shocked by Kelly...

Stealth Survival Horror is headed your way with Vincent Lade’s Jawbreaker. Not to be confused with the Darren Stein film, the game is inspired by the likes of Outlast, Alien Isolation and Resident Evil. Jawbreaker already has a demo available on Steam and itch.io, with a release date of Q4 2023.

Jawbreaker takes place in the alternate future of 2028, where after an economic collapse in the United States results in the “Awakening”, where the average person is driven to join any armed group that will have them in order to fight for supplies and territory. You play as one such member of a gang in New Citadel City. Supplies are running low in your bunker, and you’ve volunteered to venture out into the concrete ruins of the city to loot for anything to bring back. During your expedition, an untouched police station catches your eye. Breaking into the station,...

Hartford, Connecticut—Welcome to 90s Con, where the Nineties live on. The decade where all that glitters is gold. Fans of 1990s pop culture have made the pilgrimage here on an arctic March day for a weekend of time travel, transforming the Connecticut Convention Center into a pastel love-fest. Reality? Adulthood? The passage of time? As a great woman once said: As if.

Outside these walls, the years start coming, and they don’t stop coming. But in here, the Nineties dream lives forever. The place is packed with stars.

Exclusive: CBS Studios is developing The Mysterious Mortons, a detective drama series for CBS from Amy Rardin (Charmed), George Northy (Charmed), and Laurie Zaks (Castle), Deadline has learned.

The show follows a homicide detective who enlists his quirky family of mystery writers to assist him in cracking the cases that perplex the authorities.

Rardin and Northy will serve as writers and executive producers; Zaks executive produces under her banner Rosewood TV.

Rardin is currently an executive producer/writer on Amazon/Temple Hill’s Teton. She previously served as head writer and co-executive producer on Marvel/Disney+’s Echo, and co-creator/executive producer on the reboot of Charmed for the CW. She also served as co-executive producer and writer for four seasons of Jane The Virgin for the CW and began her staffing career on ABC Family’s Greek. Rardin is repped by Verve and Sugar23.

Northy sold Ozma to Netflix,...

After an exhausting day, sometimes the antidote is turning on Ti West's "X," so we can bask in Maxine's unshakable and b**** courage -- channeling any of that power and strength for ourselves. Other times, we crave a kinder touch and assurances that we're precious too: This is what the goddess Melba May (Park Overall) provides viewers in Darren Stein's directorial feature debut, 1997's "Sparkler." Ok, she's not actually a goddess in the film, but she might as well be! If you've never heard of the low-budget comedy road trip film from the creative mind of "Jawbreaker," it's because it was virtually impossible to find until it hit streaming this month.

Not only does it cast Freddie Prinze Jr. against type as an antagonist heel (which we love to see), but it also stars Jamie Kennedy ("Scream"), Steven Petrarca, and horror legend Veronica Cartwright. What opens up as...

"Hello, Wisconsin!"

It's time to face the hard truth — we are now as far removed from the 1990s as "That '70s Show" was from the 1970s when it first ran from 1998-2006. I'll give you a moment to pick yourself up off the floor after having to accept the crushing passage of time, but the good news is that Netflix is debuting their 10-episode, live-action sequel, "That '90s Show," early next year. The streamer convinced show creators Bonnie and Terry Turner to follow up with the Forman family after all these years, with almost the entire original cast returning, except for Danny Masterson (who is currently on trial and charged with three counts of rape) and Lisa Robin Kelly who tragically passed away in 2013.

The original series focused on Eric Forman (Topher Grace) and his friends, Donna (Laura Prepon), Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), Jackie (Mila Kunis), and Fez (Wilmer Valderrama) as...

by Nathaniel R

Just give us dark beauty, right?

Challenges on competition reality shows are planned out in advance but sometimes it's fun to imagine they aren't but instead, forced by the previous episode. Last week, when Dragula Titan's competitors were asked to reinterpret a classic horror type for a Halloween party, nobody chose a witch, surely the most common costume of all. So for episode two, witches are the whole theme. Revenge! 

For those of you who need a little cinematic referencing in your TV the guest judges were the "Demon Nun" herself Bonnie Aarons and director Darren Stein...

Mike White's HBO limited series "The White Lotus" was one of the best new shows of 2021, a sharply satirical look at the most privileged elite and the employees that serve them during a week's stay at an all-inclusive luxury resort. What is meant to be a week in paradise quickly reveals itself to be a powder keg of humanity's worst impulses, presented in a manner that is as darkly comedic as it is suspenseful. The end of season 1 featured a shocking, harrowing finale, capping off a debut season that would eventually lead to a whopping 10 Emmy Awards.

Following up on such an impressive launch seemed impossible, but as /Film's Barry Levitt described in his review, "The White Lotus" season 2 is "bigger, bolder, and stranger." The first season was an examination of class and race set in the fictional resort chain's Hawaiian locale, but season 2 looks to explore infidelity, sexual politics,...

Editor's Note: The Following Contains Spoilers for Do RevengeThe release of Do Revenge over the weekend pays homage to veteran teen revenge movies like Cruel Intentions, Mean Girls, and Jawbreaker but has it earned its place among them as a classic? The Netflix original centers around two iconic protagonists, Drea (Camila Mendes) and Eleanor (Maya Hawke), as they execute delicious retribution Strangers On a Train-style. However, like any good drama, not everything is as it seems, and both leads are thrown some shocking curveballs, leaving viewers struggling to keep up with who they’re supposed to root for. Typical hallmarks of the genre include a killer soundtrack, an enviable wardrobe, and a villain infuriating enough to make the audience pray for their downfall. All are usually accompanied by a voice-over from whoever the viewer is meant to connect with most. Do Revenge manages to deliver all these quintessential tropes, along...

Now that the "Scream" series is under the stewardship of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, we're heading into a new era of Ghostface, with the sixth movie leaving Woodsboro and Sidney Prescott behind, and slashing toward the Big Apple as the Carpenter sisters trying their hardest to start a new life after surviving the previous film. "Scream 5" (aka just "Scream") was structured as a passing of the torch from the franchise started by Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson to the new writing/directing duo, and according to star Melissa Barrera, Ghostface has a major advantage given New York City's massive population. Barrera had told Collider that setting the story in NYC is "like 20 times more mortifying, it's awful," and cited the bustling energy as a major contributing factor:

"Because you also see how, in a city like New York City, everyone is kind of doing their own thing and someone is screaming for help,...

(from left) Maya Hawke and Ca Mendes star in Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s Do Revenge. Photo: Netflix With its inclusion of sassy slanguage and its indictment of progressive culture, Do Revenge is a movie for the modern era—but it plays like a love letter to the savage and sweet teen-themed movies of the 1980s,...

Kathryn Merteuil may hate when things don’t go her way, but thanks to “Do Revenge” writer-director Jennifer Kaityn Robinson, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s iconic “Cruel Intentions” character has a whole new life, now revived as the ultimate queen bee: a prep school principal who trims a bonsai tree when she (rarely) feels out of control.

“She was my first dream choice,” Robinson told IndieWire about Gellar’s casting almost 25 years after the beloved 1999 film debuted. “And it was one of those things where you don’t think she’s going to do it. I was like, ‘Yeah, of course, let’s offer it to her and see what happens.’ You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. But when she said yes, I was flabbergasted and so excited.”

Robinson added, “I will say, her saying yes was kind of co-signing this movie, and made me feel like we were doing something right.

With so many streaming services to choose from, finding a new show or film to discover is rarely an issue. Especially not on Netflix, the streamer that essentially started it all, and continues to churn out quality originals to add to their already-stacked catalog. Each month on Netflix introduces titles both new and old, but not every title's got a permanent home on the platform. There's also the small issue of Netflix's promotion strategy: With so many movies and shows coming and going with each passing month, there's always the chance that something truly great is going to slip through the cracks. "Blonde" is finally getting its long-awaited (and scandalously-rated) release on the streamer, but the Ana de Armas starrer is far from the only exciting development on Netflix.

Whether you're on the hunt for a soapy thriller, a star-crossed romance, or some adult animation, there's plenty to go around this month.

Exclusive: Pam Grier, the actress from such cult classics as Jackie Brown, Foxy Brown and Coffy, has inked with APA.

Grier’s five decades-plus cinematic canon includes work with filmmakers such as Roger Corman, John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino, among many others.

Her film résumé fired up with 1971’s The Big Doll House, followed by iconic roles in such films as Foxy Brown, Coffy, The Big Bird Cage, Blacula, Scream Blacula Scream and Sheba, Baby.

During the 1980s she became a regular on Miami Vice and played a supporting role as an evil witch in Ray Bradbury’s and Walt Disney Pictures’ 1983 title Something Wicked This Way Comes. She then returned to action in 1988’s Above the Law. Grier also starred in such notable features as Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!, In Too Deep and a comedic turn in Jawbreaker.

Grier also starred in the Showtime series Linc’s and...

What happens when you cross Hitchcock with high school? When you mix budding friendships crossed with grand gestures of revenge? Well, you get Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s “Do Revenge” starring “Stranger Things” actress Maya Hawke and “Riverdale” star Camila Mendes. Robinson, along with co-writer Celeste Ballard, planned to make a thrilling high school comedy, taking inspiration from movies such as “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Jawbreaker.”

Read More: ‘Someone Great’: Gina Rodriguez Shines Brighter Than Neon In The Hilarious Netflix Comedy That Is Doomed To Be Forgotten

The American director is best known for movies such as co-writing the recent Marvel hit “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and the 2019 movie “Someone Great” starring Gina Rodriguez. “Do Revenge” will see popular sweetheart Drea (Camila Mendes), whose sex tape was leaked by her boyfriend, and transfer student Eleanor, who was outed in her last school, come together to deal with...