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For whatever reason, boxing plays better on the big screen than in real life. Perhaps it is the cinematic spectacle of watching two people square off in a boxing ring surrounded by rabid fans, or maybe it's the rush of watching a hero exorcise their demons while battling a seemingly superior foe, or perhaps we're all just suckers for fantastic workout montages set to Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger." At any rate, movies about boxing tend to hit harder than other sports dramas, literally and figuratively, producing classic underdog stories that stand the test of time.

You don't have to enjoy boxing to get a kick out of "Rocky" or know the difference between an uppercut and a hook to stand and cheer for "The Fighter." Need proof? Check out this terrific list of the 15 best boxing movies of all time, ranked, and try to find one that doesn't get your juices flowing.

Netflix is removing several titles in March of 2025, including a selection of movies on the first of the month!

If you’re on Netflix often, you’ll remember seeing one of these films in the top 10 most watched section recently. Cillian Murphy, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Holland‘s In the Heart of the Sea was actually the number 1 movie on Netflix in early January, and now it’s being removed next month.

There’s lots of other fan favorite titles included, so be sure to scroll through the whole list. And mark your calendars to make sure to stream some of these titles before they’re gone for good!

Keep reading to find out more…

Scroll down to see what Netflix is removing in March of 2025…

Leaving 3/1/25

21 Bridges

A Haunted House

A Haunted House 2

Aloha

Blended

Cinderella Man

Due Date

Free State of Jones

Green Lantern

In the Heart of the Sea...

Exclusive: Akiva Goldsman is developing a new Universe at Legendary Television featuring three reimagined Irwin Allen sci-fi TV series. The Oscar-winning writer, producer and director will draw inspiration for the new TV shows from Allen’s catalog and focus on revitalizing Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants and The Time Tunnel.

Goldsman and Legendary Television are crafting a unified vision for these stories, bringing modern sensibilities to their appeal and expanding upon his success in revitalizing the Star Trek universe.

Jon Jashni serves as executive producer, guiding the effort to reintroduce these popular franchises to a new generation, with Derek Thielges co-producing.

Created by Allen, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea premiered in 1964 on ABC based on the 1961 film co-written by Allen and Charles Bennett. It ran for four seasons starring Richard Basehart as Admiral Harriman “Harry” Nelson in the leading role, as well as David Hedison,...

Pictures via Netflix, Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony Pictures and Hulu

2025 is in full swing, and with March just around the corner, it’s time for you to look ahead at the movies and series scheduled to depart Netflix throughout the month of March. The biggest notable TV series leaving is The Mindy Project, while hit films like Scooby-Doo and Love Again, among others, are also set to depart.

As always, Netflix’s library is constantly evolving. That means new titles are always on the way, but because Netflix licenses titles from big distributors, they’re not always on Netflix forever. When this license (or rental period) comes to an end, the movie or series leaves Netflix.

Note: This list will be constantly updated throughout February as we learn of more series and movies set to leave (typically 30 days before their departure). In the last few weeks of the month, Netflix...

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Netflix is one of the best places to find the best movies and TV shows you can watch on any streaming service. Every month, it adds hundreds of new titles to its content library, but with that, there are also some titles that have got to go. So, today, we are here to tell you about the best film you should watch before it leaves Netflix in February 2025.

Plus One (February 1) Credit – Rlje Films

Plus One is a romantic comedy film co-written and co-directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer. The 2019 film follows Ben King and Alice Mori, two young friends who attend multiple weddings together but they soon fall for each other. Plus One stars Jack Quaid, Maya Erskine, Beck Bennett, Rosalind Chao, Perrey Reeves, and Ed Begley Jr.

Fast Five (February 11) Credit – Universal Pictures

Fast Five...

Netflix has revealed the list of films and TV series that will be removed from the streaming service beginning on February 1, 2025, and continuing throughout the month.

There are two TV shows that are being removed: The Mindy Project and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. There are several fan fave movies that are departing as well, including the Fast and the Furious franchise.

We’ve compiled the full list here for you to see. Be sure to mark your calendars and stream these titles if you haven’t already!

Head inside to see the full list of titles that are leaving Netflix in February 2025…

Scroll down to see every movie and TV show leaving the streamer soon…

Leaving 2/1/25

Cocaine Cowboys 2

Plus One

Run All Night

Leaving 2/11/25

The Fast and the Furious

2 Fast 2 Furious

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Fast Five

Fast & Furious 6

The Pope’s Exorcist

Leaving 2/14/25

The Catcher Was a Spy...

Russell Crowe is one of the more inconsistent actors of his generation. On the one hand, Crowe is an Oscar winner and three-time nominee, having been recognized for his roles in The Insider, Gladiator (for which he won), and A Beautiful Mind. In addition to these nominated films, he has also been in other award-winning movies such as Les Misérables and Cinderella Man. At the same time, these highs have also been met with notable lows, such as the 2022 film Poker Face and 2014's Winter's Tale, which received 9% and 12% Tomatometers, respectively.

Over the past few years, Crowe's career has taken a turn towards horror. These genre movies have been met with mixed success at the box office and among critics. One particularly unfortunate example was last year's The Exorcism, which got a 27% Tomatometer among Rotten Tomatoes critics, and only a slightly higher 35% audience score. The film also struggled at the box office,...

“Kraven the Hunter” isn’t just one of the worst comic book movies ever made, but a sign that the “superhero fatigue” that has been hinted at for years has finally begun to set in. If audiences finally show declining interest in films based on Marvel comic books, it will be because projects like “Kraven the Hunter” coast off of tangential connections to other characters that audiences might be familiar with. The laziness of “Kraven the Hunter” is glaring, as the film isn’t interested in doing anything to differentiate itself from the countless other anti-hero origin stories of the past few decades. If there’s anything truly noteworthy, it is that “Kraven the Hunter” is so incompetent that it is actually rather impressive that it was released in theaters, and not sent straight to a streaming service.

Although the Marvel logo plays in front of the opening title, “Kraven the Hunter...

Russell Crowe is one of the most successful and recognizable movie stars of the 21st century, and certain films stand out as his best. Born in 1964, Crowe was actively performing for over a decade before his big break. Crowe began his career in New Zealand and Australia with stage performances and TV parts before landing his first film role in 1990. He began working in North America in the '90s before L.A. Confidential launched him into international fame, kicking off nearly a decade of critically acclaimed movies and performances.

While he hasn't had as much success in recent years, Crowe's movies have generated over $5 billion at the box office, making him a coveted star. His most remarkable stretch came between 1997 and 2001, when he rose to fame and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor three years in a row. For his iconic role as Maximus in Ridley Scott's historical epic Gladiator,...

The best Ron Howard movies and TV shows feature a mix of dramas and big-budget action flicks, as well as plenty of Oscar notice for his work. Howard got his start as a child actor, working on the classic sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, where he played Griffith's son Opie. That led to him working with George Lucas on American Graffiti and then becoming a major star thanks to his role as Richie Cunningham on Happy Days.

However, Howard became a star thanks to his work as a top-tier director. He directed his first movie in 1977 while still working as an actor on Happy Days. That film was Grand Theft Auto, and he finally made his full-time move to directing thanks to the success of the 1994 Tom Hanks film Splash. Over his career, Howard has won two Oscars and six Emmy Awards for his work, and he continues to...

It’s been almost 60 years since Ron Howard last played that lovable scamp Opie on “The Andy Griffith Show,” but the Oscar-winning filmmaker still carries the hit television show in his heart to this day. In announcing his TCM Picks for November, Howard began by honoring his TV father, the late Andy Griffith, with the selection of Elia Kazan’s 1957 satire, “A Face in the Crowd.”

“It’s significance has grown tremendously over the decades, both as a distinct piece of cinema and an increasingly relevant social commentary,” Howard said in the video below. “Most personal to me is Andy Griffith’s performance as the central figure, Lonesome Rhodes, an easygoing folk singer who’s transformed by a media producer into a populist figure who’s changing the face of politics.”

Howard goes on to explain how Griffith was the second choice behind Kazan’s regular leading man Marlon Brando,...

Hollywood hairstylist Emanuel Millar has worked in the industry for over four decades and has come across several actors and actresses during his work. He has worked as the head of the hair department in iconic films like Kill Bill, Cinderella Man, Public Enemies, and Inglourious Basterds. He recently made headlines by highlighting some of the bad experiences he faced from celebrities.

Emanuel Millar | Credits: @emanuel_millar6/Ig

On the receiving end of these horrible accusations are actresses Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lopez, and Blake Lively. Millar shared that these actresses were rude to him and did not treat him as a fellow human being, let alone as a co-worker.

What Do We Know About Celebrity Hairstylist Emanuel Millar? Emanuel Miller with Angelina Jolie | Credits: @emanuel_millar6/Ig

Emanuel Millar recently appeared on the What It Was Like podcast, where he revealed the horrible celebrity encounters he had. Millar explained his roots in the podcast,...

New to Netflix on October 14, 2024, Unhinged paints Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe in a flattering villainous light fans want to see more of in the future. The 2020 road rage thriller follows Man aka Tom Cooper (Crowe), a seething motorist who goes off the rails after being confronted at a stop light by Rachel (Caren Pistorius), a single mother fired for running late for work.

Despite Unhinged receiving mediocre marks from critics and general moviegoers, Crowe's smoldering intensity proves he needs to play more fictional bad guys on the big and small screen. While Crowe may always be associated with his Oscar-nominated protagonists in The Insider, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind, Unhinged joins a small subset of villainous movie performances Crowe has given that showcase his acting craft and underscore his versatility as an A-lister who can credibly portray heroes and villains alike.

Unhinged

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After his breakout role in the low-budget Australian crime thriller Romper Stomper, which first earned him serious critical acclaim, Russell Crowe quickly began appearing in some of the most acclaimed films of the era. He landed an Academy Award win for Best Actor for his role as Maximus in Ridley Scotts Best Picture-winning epic Gladiator, and also scored nominations for Michael Manns conspiracy thriller The Insider and Ron Howards biographical drama A Beautiful Mind. Crowes characters were often morally cagey, isolated men who were often uncomfortable about expressing their sensitivities. However, Crowe reunited with Howard to give his most emotional performance to date in the underrated boxing film Cinderella Man.

Zack Snyder has spent the last decade making movies about comic-book superheroes, rampaging zombies, and epic space conflicts, but could his next project take him into the world of the UFC?

According to Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel, Snyder may be ready to bring the UFC to the big screen. Zach Baylin (King Richard) has reportedly penned the screenplay with Snyder, with the full cooperation of UFC president Dana White. The project isn’t set up at Netflix and is planned to be a theatrical film. The team has been looking at locations such as Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas, and the report even states that Adam Driver has been “approached” to star in the movie. It’s still very early, so nothing has been confirmed.

Related Interview: Zack Snyder and producer Wesley Coller get bloody while discussing the art, storytelling, and future of Twilight of the Gods

Earlier this year,...

The return of a reality TV monster that’s sure to dominate social media conversation; Charlie and Nick’s blossoming romance; a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the NBA courtesy of LeBron James and Anthony Edwards; the latest gem from an action auteur; Tyler Perry’s first Netflix television drama and another helping espionage and drama from Keri Russell are some of the highlights among the new films and series hitting Netflix in October.

Coming in hot on Oct. 2 is the new season of Netflix’s reality dating show Love Is Blind. The seventh go around for the main franchise — the brand has now expanded into several country-specific versions — will see a fresh batch of singles heading into the pods, hoping to find love and marry their match, all within a worryingly compressed timeline. The show, which is still billed as a “social experiment,” has experienced some bad PR in recent seasons,...

The new TV shows and movies arriving on Netflix in October 2024 see the streaming platform offering a plethora of titles across a diverse range of genres. Netflix emerged as one of the first major streaming services, helping to reshape how people watch content. From there, their library grew to include Netflix Original programming as well as many licensed movies and TV shows. With an already extensive library of content, Netflix is adding new titles each month with some highly-anticipated new additions in October 2024.

September 2024 was a big month for Netflix, marked by some talked-about original content. The Perfect Couple emerged as the latest engrossing murder mystery series while the thriller Rebel Ridge became a surprise hit for Netflix. October 2024 is another exciting month for Netflix users, with a number of popular shows returning with new seasons, like Outer Banks, Heartstopper, and The Diplomat, providing a wide variety of viewing options for Netflix users.

On September 19, Netflix announced the cast list for the upcoming seventh season of “Black Mirror.” The Emmy-winning anthology series last aired in June of 2023, but the new episodes are filming now and will return to the streamer sometime in 2025. Among the “Black Mirror” Season 7 cast members are two-time Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (“Cinderella Man” and “The Holdovers”), recent Emmy winner Awkwafina (“Quiz Lady”), Emmy-nominated actors Emma Corrin (“The Crown”), Issa Rae (“Insecure”) and Harriet Walter (“Ted Lasso” and “Succession”), plus six returning stars for the highly anticipated “USS Callister” sequel.

That popular space-based episode from 2017 was nominated for seven Emmy Awards and won four: Best TV Movie, Best Writing (William Bridges and Charlie Brooker), Best Picture Editing and Best Sound Editing. While “USS Callister’s” nominated lead actor Jesse Plemons is not set to return as Robert Daly (boo!), these half-dozen cast members are on the call sheet: Milanka Brooks as Elena Tulaska,...

Russell Crowe is an award-winning actor and filmmaker with a career spanning over three decades, and this has provided the actor with an impressive net worth. Crowe became an international sensation with his role as Maximus in Gladiator (2000), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Known for his intense performances, Crowe has also starred in films like A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, and Les Misrables. Beyond acting, Crowe is a talented musician and a director, showcasing his versatility in the entertainment industry.

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Russell Ira Crowe was raised in Australia. His parents, Jocelyn and John Crowe were film set caterers. Crowe made his acting debut in 1972 in an episode of Spyforce, which was produced by his mother's godfather (via Celebrity Net Worth). He was married to Australian singer Danielle Spencer in 2003, and the couple shares two sons, Charles and Tennyson. Crowe and Spencer divorced in 2018. In addition to acting,...

Following in the footsteps of Oscar-nominated boxing coaches like Paul Giamatti in “Cinderella Man” and Burgess Meredith in “Rocky,” Brian Tyree Henry could make another trip to the Oscars for his standout role as Jason Crutchfield in the uplifting and inspirational drama “The Fire Inside.” Henry portrays the coach who trains Claressa Shields, the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.

The film, produced by Amazon MGM, made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday afternoon before a sold-out crowd. Debut director Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for an Academy Award for cinematography with “Mudbound” (2017), introduced the film. She later joined a post-screening Q&a alongside producer Elishia Holmes, writer and producer Barry Jenkins, and stars Ryan Destiny and Henry. Also present were the actual Claressa Shields and her coach, Jason Crutchfield.

Read: You can see all...

After collecting Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor, Gladiator proved that director Ridley Scott and leading man Russell Crowe were a formidable partnership and yet, despite this success, the pair's follow-up project was almost the polar opposite of the historical epic in every conceivable way. Having won critical acclaim and triumphed at the box office in addition to receiving multiple awards Gladiator seemed to indicate a clear path forward for any future Scott/Crowe collaborations. This makes what happened in 2006 seem even more difficult to explain.

For both Scott and Crowe, Gladiator came in the middle of a purple patch. Crowe had burst onto the scene with his stand-out performance in L.A. Confidential and followed Gladiator up with critical hits like A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander, and Cinderella Man. While Scott's record is more mixed, Gladiator presaged the likes of Black Hawk Down and Matchstick Men both...

I'm so happy that Paul Giamatti gets to live his dream in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. A lifelong Star Trek fan, Giamatti is an Emmy winner and one-half of the Academy Award-caliber duo toplining Starfleet Academy, the other being Oscar-winner Holly Hunter, who plays Starfleet Academy's unnamed Chancellor and Captain. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is the next Star Trek on Paramount+ series, executive produced by co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau. It's a credit to the level of quality seen in Star Trek on Paramount+'s shows that actors like Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti chose to be part of Star Trek.

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I've been a fan of Paul Giamatti since he played Pig Vomit, Howard Stern's foil, in Private Parts. No one could have played HBO's John Adams better, and Emmy voters agreed. Of course, Giamatti was sensational in Sideways, and...

Cinderella Man is an inspiring underdog story with a stellar cast that includes Russell Crowe and Rene Zellweger. The film follows real-life boxer James J. Braddock as he navigates the Great Depression and makes a triumphant return to the ring. The supporting cast, including Paul Giamatti and Craig Bierko, delivers standout performances that enhance the compelling story.

Cinderella Man is a hugely popular boxing movie that took the world by storm in 2005, but many of the actors involved have gone on to carve unique careers for themselves and star in plenty more recognizable projects. The story follows a former boxer named James J. Braddock, whose life is turned upside-down by the Great Depression and hes forced to get into the ring once more. Its one of the most inspiring movies about underdogs in recent memory, and the story has managed to stay relevant for almost two decades.

The A-list cast...

Former Netflix film head Scott Stuber has closed a deal with Amazon MGM Studios to relaunch the United Artists label and finance and release features from his new production company.

The arrangement includes a first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios and will see Stuber based on the Culver City lot, producing several films a year under the UA label for release theatrically and on Prime Video.

Stuber will be involved in all projects released by the new UA including those that do not originate from his company. UA was launched in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks...

Scott Stuber wasn’t out of the game for long, and he’s bringing back with him a venerated classic film brand. The former Netflix film chief is teaming with Amazon MGM Studios to relaunch the United Artists label and help produce movies for both theatrical and streaming.

Stuber left Netflix this spring, and under his new production company about to launch, he’ll already have a first-look, multiyear film deal with Amazon MGM Studios and will be involved in anything released by the new United Artists.

“With his proven track record of delivering global hits and an eye towards theatrical fare, Scott’s expertise and vision align perfectly with our film strategy,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios. “We are so proud to welcome him to our lot and partner with him on the relaunch of the legendary UA brand, as we work to leverage existing and new IP into big,...

On day one of the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump tapped Jd Vance to be his vice-presidential running mate. And with that announcement, a four-year-old movie — the Ron Howard-directed adaptation of Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy” — leapt almost instantly into the Netflix top 10.

For many Americans, that chicken-fried Bildungsroman will be their introduction to a veep with less than two years’ government experience. In both the book and its middling Netflix adaptation, Vance portrayed himself as an Appalachian kid from poor stock who’d escaped the Rust Belt for an Ivy League education and a lucrative career.

It was that dimension of Vance’s narrative that clearly attracted director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer — both self-avowed liberals, who may have created a monster by legitimizing his origin story, much as “The Apprentice” producer Mark Burnett did by giving Trump a reality TV spotlight back in 2004.

Hollywood loves a Horatio Alger story,...

Russell Crowe has had an exemplary career spanning more than 30 years. The actor has shown his versatility as a dramatic performer with films like The Insider, L.A. Confidential, Cinderella Man, and The Beautiful Mind. However, it was 2000’s Gladiator which brought him worldwide fame and catapulted his star power to great heights.

Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator | DreamWorks Distribution

The film marked his first collaboration with director Ridley Scott who is known for being a perfectionist on set. The director is also very particular about how he presents his scenes and his actors on-screen. During one intense and dangerous scene involving a horse, Crowe volunteered to perform the scene without any stunt double.

Russell Crowe Did A Deadly Action Sequence On Gladiator Despite Ridley Scott’s Concerns

Gladiator had some intense action sequences involving Russell Crowe | DreamWorks Distribution

After incredible dramatic performances in L.

You know, in some film circles, Ron Howard gets a lot of guff for being a "boring" director. But I think that's unfair. Sure, Howard has some duds in his directorial career, but he also has some home runs. "Apollo 13" is an exciting "based on a true story" flick, "The Paper" is a nifty look at the world of newspaper journalism, the underrated "Cinderella Man" is a stellar boxing drama. And then there's "Backdraft," Howard's 1991 thriller about firefighters. To be fair, the "Backdraft" script is a bit weak, but the film itself is action-packed and boasts some incredible visual effects that use real fire. The film also has a killer cast, including Robert De Niro, the late, great Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, J.T. Walsh, Scott Glenn, and, of course, Kurt Russell. 

Russell plays Lieutenant Stephen "Bull" McCaffrey, a really cool guy who is also a damn good firefighter.

In Alexander Payne's recent dramedy "The Holdovers," the Oscar-nominated Paul Giamatti played a grumpy (but charismatic) teacher, largely hated by the student body. It seems that the students of Starfleet Academy are about to hate him even more, as — according to a new report from Variety — the actor has been cast as the central villain of the upcoming "Starfleet Academy" TV series. The Variety report says that Giamatti will serve as an as-yet unnamed recurring antagonist throughout the "Star Trek" show's first season, and that his character will have "a sinister connection to the past of one of the (yet to be cast) cadets." Variety didn't specify if he'd be playing a human or another alien species.

Speculation may now commence. Will he be playing a bitter former professor? An escaped convict and serial killer who just happens to be the father of one of the main characters? A charismatic cult leader,...

Hey, it worked for Barbie.

Mattel’s next feature film based on a doll will be a live-action, theatrical Monster High movie written and produced by Akiva Goldsman and distributed by Universal Pictures. The gist of the Monster High fashion-doll line is that they are the children of iconic monsters, like Frankie Stein (the daughter of Frankenstein’s monster and his bride), Draculaura (the daughter of Dracula), and Clawdeen Wolf (the daughter of a werewolf mom and a human dad).

Goldsman’s banner Weed Road will produce the film. Goldsman, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of “A Beautiful Mind,” is also a producer on Mattel Films’ upcoming Major Matt Mason movie starring Tom Hanks. The announcement of that toy adaptation, which is set up at Paramount Pictures, preceded “Barbie.”

Kevin McKeon and Arturo Thur De Koos will oversee the Monster High movie for Mattel; Greg Lessans has oversight for Weed Road.

Oscar-winning writer-producer Akiva Goldsman and his Weed Road are partnering with Mattel, Inc. and Universal Pictures to develop a live-action theatrical Monsters High film, based on the multimedia franchise of the same name.

We’re told that Goldsman is only producing, not writing, so the assignment remains open for now.

First introduced via a line of dolls in 2010, Monster High centers around a fictional high school attended by the teenage children of famous monsters. These characters, such as Draculaura (daughter of Dracula), Frankie Stein (daughter of Frankenstein’s monster), Clawdeen Wolf (daughter of the Werewolf) and Cleo de Nile (daughter of the Mummy), are designed to reflect the diverse and unique offspring of classic monster figures. Each brings their own personality, style, and background to the Monster High universe, creating a rich tapestry of monster heritage and high school drama.

Beyond the dolls, Monster High has thus far expanded into various forms of media,...

It’s fitting that Ron Howard’s documentary “Jim Henson Idea Man” gets its name from the man himself. During an early bit of voiceover, we hear the “Sesame Street” and “Muppets” creator describe his take on just what it is he does: Idea man. Nothing more, nothing less.

As the film winds on, others are more lofty in their estimations. Henson was a “man with a purpose,” a superhuman, someone for whom terms like “incredibly productive” can’t do justice. He “wanted to do more than was humanly possible,” one of Henson’s adult children tells us. Howard’s film reminds us how true that was during Henson’s lifetime and into his continuing legacy.

Henson was a puppeteer and creator of everything from The Muppets to “Fraggle Rock,” an animator and actor, a TV genius (Henson’s fingerprints are still on every element of “Sesame Street”), and a filmmaker.

We can’t stop here! This is Bear Country! While Russell Crowe passes the Gladiator torch to Paul Mescal for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, the Oscar-winning actor is getting behind the bar for Derrick Borte’s upcoming action-thriller Bear Country. The project marks another collaboration between Crowe and Borte after teaming up for Unhinged, a thriller starring Crowe as an unstable man obsessed with a woman after a spat of road rage.

According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Bear Country finds Crowe playing an aging but redoubtable club owner, Manco Kapak, whom a masked gunman robs. When the robbery sidelines his retirement plans and his girlfriend grows distant, his aspirations to live a quiet life shatter like glass breaking against a hardwood floor. As cartel bosses harass Manco and a young status seeker aims to purchase the club, Kapak must decide how to show them who the boss is.

Renée Zellweger's diverse career spans comedy, drama, and musicals, earning critical acclaim and awards. In Bee Movie, Zellweger voices Vanessa, showcasing her talent in animation matched with Seinfeld's wit. Zellweger's impactful roles in Nurse Betty, Cold Mountain, and Bridget Jones Diary solidify her star power.

With an impressively varied career spanning more than 30 years, Renée Zellweger has proved herself one of the most important actresses across comedy, drama, musicals, period pieces, and countless other genres. A passionate and fiery performer, Zellweger’s success in the realm of comedy can sometimes outshine her truly spectacular skill as a dramatic force to be reckoned with. The recipient of two Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, and four Golden Globes, Zellweger’s career has been categorized by intense critical acclaim and enthusiastic audience reception.

Despite originally hailing from Texas, the scope and breadth of Zellweger’s success has transcended continents, and she stood...

You can probably sum it all up in just one word: Barbenheimer.

It’s not a word found in Webster’s, but one that’s instantly recognizable to movie fans and everyone in all areas of the entertainment industry. Now it’s probably your key entry into the closing act of the very long Oscar season, one that started in earnest over Labor Day with the fall festivals at Venice and Telluride, and just a week later at Toronto. But really, this year got a significant start at Cannes with the debuts in May of Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall, Grand Prize winner The Zone of Interest, and the World Premiere of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

All three of them have combined to claim 20 Oscar nominations and all are in the running for Best Picture. And then, shortly after Cannes, we had the...

Noah remains one of the most acclaimed biblical movies due to its stellar cast and Aronofsky's signature themes. Stellar performances from Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and the entire cast make Noah a standout in Aronofsky's filmography. Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, and Mark Margolis are also among Noah's big names.

Featuring a cast that includes some of Hollywood's best actors and actresses, Noah is filmmaker Darren Aronofsky's ambitious take on the classic biblical story of Noah, and his mission from God to build an ark that can withstand a ferocious storm. Although controversial upon release, Noah remains one of the most acclaimed movies about biblical events, and it owes that distinction largely to the strong performances of its cast.

Noah blends Aronofsky's signature themes of religion, moralism, and characters making complex decisions with beautiful cinematography and a sweeping score. Although the topics contained within Noah made it one of the...

The 2024 Oscar nominees for Best Actor are Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”), Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”), and Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”). Murphy (16/5) is favored to win by our odds, followed in order by Giamatti (18/5), Cooper (9/2), Wright (9/2), and Domingo (9/2).

Whereas last year’s lead male lineup was the first in almost nine decades to consist entirely of Oscars newcomers, this one includes three rookies and two general veterans. Standing alone in having already competed for this specific award is Cooper, who was previously recognized for “Silver Linings Playbook” (2013), “American Sniper” (2015), and “A Star Is Born” (2019). Since he personally helmed both “A Star Is Born” and “Maestro,” he is now the fourth person to direct himself to multiple acting nominations, following Laurence Olivier, Warren Beatty, and Clint Eastwood.

Cooper is concurrently nominated for co-writing the original screenplay for “Maestro” with past winner Josh Singer and is directly involved...

Based on the entire history of the Oscars, Best Actor is the category that typically features the longest nominated performances, and that certainly rings true this year. While the modern academy has seen fit to recognize several unusually short lead male turns, they refrained from doing so in 2024 and instead made the current lineup the first since 2019’s to exclusively include actors who pass the one-hour and 50% screen time marks. By both metrics, this constitutes only the 14th such instance ever.

The 2024 Best Actor nominees have an average screen time of one hour, 25 minutes, and 54 seconds, or 64.31% of their respective films. These amounts are over 15 minutes and 5% greater than those applying to the 2023 contenders. In terms of actual time, their average is the eighth highest in the category’s 96-year existence, while their percentage mean is the 20th highest.

The last 10 winners of this award appeared on screen for an average of one hour,...

"The Beverly Hillbillies" is the platonic ideal of a high-concept sitcom hook. At its essence, it's simply "Poor folks get stinking rich and move to Beverly Hills." That's probably all CBS needed to hear from creator Paul Henning, who, between 1962 and 1971, exploited this simple premise to the tune of nine seasons and 274 episodes. During this span, "The Beverly Hillbillies" was one of the top-rated shows on TV.

How could such a simple premise, which was never really tweaked, sustain a series for nearly a decade? This question perpetually flummoxed the nation's TV critics, who generally loathed the show, but anyone who gorged on "The Beverly Hillbillies" throughout their formative couch potato years (during its initial run or via syndication) knows the answer is obvious: it's the cast, stupid.

Buddy Ebsen was perfect casting as Jed Clampett, a gentleman of the Ozarks who accidentally discovers oil on his Missouri mountain land...

A jam-packed weekend of last-gasp Oscar campaigning — the film Academy’s final round of voting opened on Feb. 22 and will close on Feb. 27 — kicked off on Saturday night with the 30th SAG Awards, the first major awards show ever to be streamed on Netflix. But do Saturday night’s results actually provide reliable clues about what will happen two weeks from Sunday night at the 96th Oscars?

I would argue that they probably do.

SAG Award winners are determined by the roughly 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, the world’s largest union of actors, whereas Oscar winners are determined by the roughly 9,500 voting members of the film Academy, 86 percent of whom are not actors, which would suggest that any overlap is purely coincidental.

But it is quite a statement that SAG-AFTRA members voted best actor in a film — which has long looked to be neck-and-neck between Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer over Paul Giamatti...

There’s a saying over here in the UK about London buses. You wait so long for one and then two turn up at once. That notion could play out at this year’s Academy Awards as this 2024 ceremony could be the second in a row where all four acting winners are rookie nominees.

This happened last year when Michelle Yeoh edged out Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) to win Best Actress for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” while her co-stars also emerged victorious. Jamie Lee Curtis took home Best Supporting Actress and Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor. And Best Actor went to “The Whale” star Brendan Fraser.

The last time this played out was in 2006 when Phillip Seymour-Hoffman won Best Actor for “Capote,” Reese Witherspoon took home Best Actress for “Walk the Line,” Rachel Weisz triumphed in Best Supporting Actress for “The Constant Gardener,” and George Clooney emerged victorious...

Adding to his awards season accolades, Paul Giamatti was honored with the Cinema Vanguard Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Wednesday, where he sat down for a conversation about his long career and journey to The Holdovers.

In a 75-minute chat moderated by The Hollywood Reporter‘s Scott Feinberg, Giamatti walked the Santa Barbara audience through his pivot from wanting to study primate anthropology to pursuing acting after his father died. He reflected on early roles in Private Parts, Planet of the Apes (“I was really disappointed I couldn’t play a gorilla. I was like, ‘I can’t be a gorilla, why not?’ They’re like, ‘You look more like an orangutan'”) and eventually American Splendor, where he said, “I remember at the time thinking, this is probably the first and last time I’m gonna lead [a movie] like this.”

Despite the critical success of that film,...

Paul Giamatti's Best Actor nomination for The Holdovers is his first Oscars recognition in 18 years, highlighting the Academy's historical snub of talented actors like Carrey, Cruise, Norton, and Close. Giamatti's extensive career in over 80 movies spanned more than 30 years, with several performances that could have earned him an Oscar, including his role in boxing biopic Cinderella Man. However, many of his great performances went unnoticed during the 18-year gap. Giamatti's unexpected nomination for The Holdovers, a critically acclaimed comedy where he plays a misanthropic teacher, makes it only his second nomination in his career. Alongside Cillian Murphy, Giamatti appears to be a strong candidate for winning the Best Actor Oscar in 2024.

While Paul Giamatti is consistently viewed as a strong screen performer, the star’s Best Actor nomination for The Holdovers marks his first Oscars recognition in 18 years. Sometimes, even the most prolific and talented actors aren’t recognized by the Academy.

If there’s one word to describe Paul Giamatti’s most common type of role, it’s “curmudgeon.” The Yale-trained actor has the extraordinary range needed to take on various parts, but his most famous characters tend to have sharp minds and even sharper tongues. His most acclaimed roles, like the wine aficionado Miles in “Sideways,” are irritable and short-tempered with an arrogance and wit that masks their more sensitive interiors.

Giamatti’s latest role leans into that casting type harder than almost any of his other parts, and has clinched the actor his first ever Best Actor nomination. In “The Holdovers,” which reunites Giamatti with “Sideways” director Alexander Payne, the actor is at his surliest as Paul Hunham: a stuffy and strict English professor at an all-boys boarding school. The ’70s throwback Christmas comedy is an astonishing actor showcase for Giamatti, as well as his two co-stars Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph,...

"The Hill" tells an inspiring true story of Rickey Hill, who overcomes his spinal degenerative disease to pursue his love of baseball. Similar films focus on themes of faith, overcoming hardship, and baseball, offering audiences a range of options to enjoy similar stories. From "Cinderella Man" and "Running The Bases" to "Hacksaw Ridge" and "42," there are films that explore resilience in the face of adversity and the power of sports.

2023's The Hill is an inspiring true tale with some surprisingly similar contemporaries, not being the first film to focus on faith, overcoming hardship, and the great American pastime of baseball. The film tells the true story of Rickey Hill, the son of a pastor who overcomes his spinal degenerative disease in order to fulfill his love of baseball. Featuring cameos from real-life hall-of-fame baseball players, The Hill may provide an utterly unique tale of perseverance in the face of adversity,...

This article contains spoilers for The Holdovers.

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Though a dark horse in this year’s Oscar race for Best Picture, it’s no surprise that Alexander Payne’s latest dramedy, The Holdovers, is primed to clean up—or even upset—key acting and screenplay categories. Less of a candy-colored spectacle than Barbie, and certainly not as gravely bombastic as Oppenheimer, this quiet and philosophical story is all about messy, painfully ordinary mortals finding hope and redemption in everyday gestures.

Smart and well-structured as an original script, the performances of the three central figures are what really brings The Holdovers to relatable life. So much so that while the broad strokes of the movie’s ending seem unfair and cruel, viewers are still left smiling, with many calling The Holdovers a new Christmas movie staple.

Another Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth collaboration was not a square on our 2024 pop culture Bingo card, yet it looks like we're about to check it off. Moviegoers are due to see the pair of Aussies team up for the second time in as many years in February's military action thriller "Land of Bad." The pair recently co-starred in the 2022 movie "Poker Face" (no relation to the TV show of the same name), a thriller about a high stakes poker game gone wrong that was directed by Crowe himself.

This time around it's not a card game that goes wrong, but a mission. "Land of Bad" follows a group of military men on an extraction assignment in the Philippines that takes a bloody turn, leaving one young officer at the mercy of the elements and local militia. Fortunately, he's not alone: he's got Russell Crowe's drone pilot droning in his ear,...

Paul Giamatti is a versatile and memorable actor who excels in a wide range of genres, from dramas to comedies. He has given standout performances in films like Win Win, Love and Mercy, Private Life, and Barney's Version. Giamatti's ability to embody complex characters with depth and authenticity is showcased in films like American Splendor, Cinderella Man, and Sideways.

Paul Giamatti emerges as one of cinema’s most versatile and memorable actors, evident in his filmography where several films notably showcase his best work. Possessing an everyman persona while boasting an electrifying screen presence, Giamatti has proven himself a powerhouse talent across all genres. From searing dramas to quirky comedies, nuanced independent films to Hollywood blockbusters, he inhabits remarkably diverse roles with tremendous skill. Directors from Alexander Payne to Ron Howard have elicited some of Giamatti’s finest performances, though he can also steal scenes in small supporting roles for masters like Spielberg.

It’s been almost 20 years since Paul Giamatti’s last Oscar nomination, for Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man in 2006. This year, with Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, Giamatti scores his long-overdue first lead nod after coming extremely close with another Payne collaboration, Sideways, in 2004.

The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly teacher (Giamatti) at a New England boarding school, forced to watch over a small group of students over the holidays. He’s joined on campus by a grieving cook (played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who was also nominated today) and a rebellious senior looking for trouble (newcomer Dominic Sessa). The film scored five total Oscar nominations Tuesday, including for picture and original screenplay.

Tuesday morning, the veteran character actor chatted with The Hollywood Reporter in the wake of his second Oscar nomination to talk about receiving that news, his collaboration with Payne and what he might like to try out in future projects.

“Oppenheimer” has surged ahead of its competition, potentially becoming one of the most dominant Oscar winners since “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), which garnered eight statuettes. Looking at the state of the race post-nominations, the Universal Pictures’ blockbuster could make an even bigger impact.

Christopher Nolan’s historical drama about the father of the Atomic bomb leads the tally with 13, making it the 11th movie to reach such a gargantuan Oscars nomination count. Six of the previous 10 films scored best picture wins, including classics like “Gone with the Wind” (1939), “Forrest Gump” (1994), and “The Shape of Water” (2017). The four that lost are “Mary Poppins” (1964), “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966), “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008), none of which were heavily favored to triumph in their respective years. But that’s probably not the fate of “Oppenheimer,” particularly after its victories at the Golden...