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Jackie Chan received Locarno’s Pardo alla Carriera on the festival’s Piazza Grande, drawing a sold-out crowd and telling fans, “I’m 71, and I can still fight,” a remark delivered with a story about his father asking years ago whether he’d still be able to do so at 60. The lifetime honor, sponsored by Ascona-Locarno Tourism, was met with extended applause as the actor struck playful fighting poses on the red carpet before the ceremony.

The tribute extends beyond the award itself. Chan is presenting two films he directed and headlined, “Project A” (1983) and “Police Story” (1985), and is scheduled for a public conversation with attendees the following day. Festival materials note his decades-spanning career and the enduring popularity of his Hong Kong action comedies, a body of work that helped shape global perceptions of martial-arts cinema.

His on-stage quip quickly circulated across entertainment outlets and social platforms during the ceremony,...

Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival is one of the world’s longest-running film festivals, known for its adventurous programming, exciting retrospectives, and nightly open-air screenings in the Piazza Grande, which is capable of seating 8,000 spectators. The latter is by no means the only screening spot, but it’s the location most associated with the festival.

Hosting world premieres and special screenings of highlights from Cannes, Sundance, and other early-year festivals, this year’s Piazza Grande selection includes the launch of Mediterranean drama “The Birthday Party,” starring Willem Dafoe and Vic Carmen Sonne; Emma Thompson-led thriller “The Dead of Winter;” Joachim Trier’s Cannes prize-winner “Sentimental Value;” a 35mm screening of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining;” Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’or winner “It Was Just an Accident;” and the European premiere of Bill Condon’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Alexander Payne, Golshifteh Farahani, four-time Oscar-winning costume designer Milena Canonero,...

To paraphrase a certain pioneering rock band, there’s been a whole lotta Labi in the culture over the last few years.

Long a cult figure best known for cover versions of his songs by the way-different likes of Kenny Rogers and Madness, Labi Siffre has lately undergone a Nick Drake-like moment. Two years ago, the British-born singer-songwriter’s Seventies ballad “Crying Laughing Loving Lying” was prominently heard on the soundtrack of The Holdovers, the Oscar-nominated Alexander Payne film that helped introduce Siffre’s songs to a new generation.

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Paul Giamatti, an Emmy winner and two‑time Academy Award nominee, has delivered some of the most memorable performances of his generation. But for many cinephiles and comic book fans, one of his most unforgettable roles remains his portrayal of underground comic writer and music critic the late Harvey Pekar in the 2003 cult classic American Splendor.

Why Paul Giamatti’s American Splendor Still Resonates

More than two decades after its release, American Splendor stands out as one of the most inventive comic book films ever made. Blending fact and fiction, it offers an intimate look at the “everyman” heroism of the late Harvey Pekar’s life. In a groundbreaking twist, the real Harvey Pekar even appears in the film as himself, adding a layer of authenticity that captivated audiences. Over the years, the movie’s loyal following has only grown, with fans continuing to praise Giamatti’s critically acclaimed performance.

Julian Schnabel will receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, which runs from Aug. 27–Sept. 6. The festival made the announcement on Wednesday.

The Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award is “dedicated to a personality who has made a particularly original contribution to the contemporary film industry,” according to a release from the festival. Schnabel, director of “Basquiat,” “Before Night Falls” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” will be honored on Sept. 3, before the screening of his new film, “In the Hand of Dante,” starring Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese, Jason Momoa, Louis Cancelmi and Franco Nero. It is screening out of competition.

Oscar Isaac in “In the Hand of Dante” (courtesy of the Venice Film Festival)

Adapted from Nick Tosches’ novel of the same name by Louise Kugelberg and Schnabel, “In the Hand of Dante...

Swedish acting star Stellan Skarsgård will be feted with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the festival’s 31st edition in August.

The actor is a longtime friend of the festival, as well as a curator and one of the patrons of the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation – the scholarships of which were awarded at the Sarajevo Film Festival – and presented the foundation’s scholarship to Juanita Wilson at the festival’s 15th edition in 2009.

“The Sarajevo Film Festival remains unwavering and driven in its aim to highlight subjects of great consequence, underscored by an intense lust for life. I love going there”, said Skarsgård.

The actor follows in the wake of past celebrated Sarajevo honorees who include Meg Ryan, Alexander Payne, Lynne Ramsay, Charlie Kaufman, Jesse Eisenberg, Ruben Östlund, Mads Mikkelsen and Angelina Jolie.

“It is a true honor to present the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo to Stellan Skarsgård, an actor of remarkable depth,...

Luca Guadagnino is going to be on the road a lot in the coming months. One day after the Italian filmmaker's latest feature, After the Hunt, joined the Venice Film Festival lineup as an out of competition selection, the New York Film Festival announced that the Amazon MGM-released film will play as the opening night selection of its 63rd edition.

"We are excited to open this year’s festival with Luca Guadagnino’s latest, which confirms his status as one of the most versatile risk-takers working today," NYFF artistic director Dennis Lim said in a statement. "Brilliantly acted and crafted, After the Hunt is something rare in contemporary cinema: a complex, grown-up movie with a lot on its mind that also happens to be a deeply satisfying piece of entertainment."

In his own statement, Guadagnino called NYFF "an arbiter of global cinema," and provided a quick preview of the movie's themes.

The Venice Film Festival is back on the Lido for its 82nd edition, kicking off August 27-September 6. The packed lineup of auteur premieres heading to Italy include new films from Olivier Assayas, Guillermo del Toro, Mona Fastvold, Kathryn Bigelow, Noah Baumbach, Yorgos Lanthimos, Benny Safdie, Jim Jarmusch, Park Chan-wook, László Nemes, François Ozon, Pietro Marcello, and many more in competition.

Out of competition, we’ll see new films from Luca Guadagnino (“After the Hunt”), Werner Herzog (“Ghost Elephants”), Sofia Coppola (Marc Jacobs documentary “Marc by Sofia”), Charlie Kaufman (the short “How to Shoot a Ghost”), Julian Schnabel (“In the Hand of Dante”), Gus Van Sant (“Dead Man’s Wire”), Laura Poitras (“Cover-Up”), Lucrecia Martel (“Nuestra Tierra”), and Tsai Ming-liang (“Back Home”)

Artistic director Alberto Barbera’s programmers had already unveiled a wave of announcements before Tuesday’s lineup: Alexander Payne heads up the jury, Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia” opens the festival Italian-style,...

Alberto Barbera presided over a lengthy press conference Tuesday morning, when he announced the stacked lineup for this year’s Venice Film Festival, which runs August 27-September 6.

The lineup is expansive, with big names and arthouse darlings sprinkled across the festival’s strands, even including the shorts program.

High-profile titles include Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny. Roberts leads the cast as a college professor who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light. The film will screen Out of Competition on Guadagnino and Amazon MGM Studios’ request, Barbera explained during the presser.

Elsewhere, in Competition we have Jay Kelly, the latest film Noah Baumbach has made for Netflix. The...

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” are heading to the Lido for their world premieres at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.

At a press conference in Venice on Tuesday morning, the announcement of those and other titles was made by Alberto Barbera, Director of the Cinema Department and Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, president of La Biennale di Venezia.

Other films in the Venice main competition include new work from Paolo Sorrentino (“La Grazia”), Jim Jarmusch (“Father Mother Sister Brother”), Laszlo Nemes (“Orphan”), Park Chan-wook

“Sermon to the Void,” Hilal Baydarov

“L’Isola di Andrea,” Antonio Capuano

“Il Maestro,” Andrea Di Stefano

“After the Hunt,” Luca Guadagnino

“Hateshinaki Scarlet,” Mamoru Hosoda

“The Last Viking,” Anders Thomas Jensen

“In the Hand of Dante,” Julian Schnabel

“Dead Man’s Wire,” Gus Van Sant

“Orfeo,” Virgilio Villoresi

Out of Competition – Non Fiction

“Kabul,...

Kathryn Bigelow’s A House Of Dynamite, Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, and Luca Guadagnino’s After The Hunt are among the films selected for the 82nd Venice Film Festival (August 27 - September 6).

Scroll down for full line-up

The first two are among 21 Competition titles, with further Competition entries including Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly starring George Clooney, Olivier Assayas’ The Wizard Of The Kremlin starring Jude Law as Vladimir Putin, Mona Fastvold’s The Testament Of Ann Lee, and Guillermo del Toro’sFrankenstein starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi.

The selection was announced by artistic director Alberto Barbera,...

The line-up for the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27-September 9) is being unveiled today at 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and artistic director Alberto Barbera.

Scroll down for lineup

The press conference is live-streamed above, and this page will be updated with the films as they are announced.Refresh page for latest updates.

Alexander Payne will preside over the jury, which also includes Mohammad Rasoulof, Fernanda Torres, Stephane Brize, Maura Delpero, Cristian Mungiu and Zhao Tao. Julia Ducournau will chair the Horizons jury.

The Venice Critics’ Week line-up was announced yesterday.

Competition

La Grazia

Dir.

The line-up for the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27-September 9) will be unveiled today at 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and artistic director Alberto Barbera.

The press conference will be live-streamed above, and this page will be updated with the films as they are announced.Refresh page for latest updates.

The previously announced opening film is Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia.

Alexander Payne will preside over the jury, which also includes Mohammad Rasoulof, Fernanda Torres, Stephane Brize, Maura Delpero, Cristian Mungiu and Zhao Tao. Julia Ducournau will chair the Horizons jury.

The Venice Critics’ Week line-up was announced yesterday.

Venice Critics’ Week, the sidebar section of the Venice Film Festival, unveiled its lineup Monday, revealing the opening and closing films as well as the seven-title competition.

The section runs Aug. 27-Sept. 6.

Stereo Girls, a 1990s-set drama from Caroline Deruas Peano about the relationship of two 17-year-old girls, will open Venice Critics’ Week, screening out of competition. Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero, a “feminist fairy tale” starring Emma Corrin, Charli Xcx, Maika Monroe, Nicholas Galitzine, Richard E. Grant, Amir El-Masry and Felicity Jones, will close the sidebar.

The 2025 competition lineup also includes Giulio Bertelli’s Agon, a drama centered around female athletes competing in fictional Olympics; Straight Circle, a dark comedy centered on two soldiers in an isolated barracks, and the feature debut of music video director Oscar Hudson; and Ish from Imran Perretta, which explores the lasting impact of a traumatic incident, on two 12-year-old boys, of a police stop and search.

We know a whole lot about Sandra Oh‘s professional life – from her portrayal of the fierce Cristina Yang to the razor-sharp Eve Polastri, the actress has brought quite a few unforgettable characters to life. However, when it comes to her personal life, things are a lot quieter.

We know that she was born in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean, Ontario, Canada, to Korean parents, Oh Junsu and Oh Young-Nam. The 53-year-old began her career as a ballet dancer before attending the National Theatre School in Montreal.

Speaking of her love life, though, there isn’t much to tell. Oh has been spotted in public a handful of times, though, with her rumored boyfriend, Lev Rukhin. While neither of the two has confirmed or denied the status of their relationship, their Pda-filled outings tell a story no one can deny.

As per The Sun, Rukhin and Oh were first seen...

Fernanda Torres, Mohammad Rasoulof, Zhao Tao, Stéphane Brizé, Maura Delpero and Cristian Mungiu will be joining Alexander Payne on the International Jury for the 82nd Venice Film Festival, which takes place August 27 – September 6, 2025.

As announced in April, Payne will head the international jury. On Friday, with the recommendation of the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barb, the Board of Directors of La Biennale announced the additional jury members.

Recent Best Actress Oscar nominee Torres (for Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here”) will judge the festival’s films alongside French director and screenwriter Stéphane Brizé; Italian director and screenwriter Maura Delpero; Romanian writer, director and producer Cristian Mungiu; Iranian director, writer and producer Mohammad Rasoulof and Chinese actress Zhao Tao.

The jury will give the Golden Lion, Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion for Best Director, Coppa Volpi for Best Actress, Coppa Volpi for Best Actor, a best screenplay award, the...

Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres are among the competition jurors for the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27-September 6).

Also alongside previously announced jury chair Alexander Payne are filmmakers Stephane Brize from France, Maura Delpero from Italy and Cristian Mungiu from Romania, as well as Chinese actress Zhao Tao.

The seven-strong jury will award prizes including the Golden Lion for best film; the Silver Lion grand jury prize; and awards for best director, actress, actor and screenplay.

French filmmaker Julia Ducournau will chair the Horizons jury, alongside Italian filmmaker Yuri Ancarani, Australian director Shannon Murphy, US...

The Venice Film Festival on Friday unveiled this year’s competition jury, the group of film professionals that will pick this year’s Golden Lion for best film at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof, French director and screenwriter Stéphane Brizé (At War), Italian director and screenwriter Maura Delpero (Vermiglio), Palme d’Or winning Romanian director Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) and Chinese actress Zhao Tao (Ash Is the Purest White) will all sit on the main jury.

As previously announced, two-time Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne (The Holdovers, Sideways, Nebraska) will head up the jury as president. Payne has only once screened a film in the Venice competition, with Downsizing debuting on the Lido in 2017.

In addition to the best film Golden Lion, the competition jury selects the Silver Lion Grand Jury prize, Silver Lions for best director, the Coppa Volpi for best actor and best actress,...

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the official juries for its 82nd edition running from August 27-September 6.

On the main competition jury, previously announced jury president Alexander Payne, will be joined by French director and screenwriter Stéphane Brizé; Italian director and screenwriter Maura Delpero; Romanian director, writer and producer Cristian Mungiu; Iranian director and writer Mohammad Rasoulof; Brazilian actress, writer and screenwriter Fernanda Torres; and Chinese actress Zhao Tao.

They will decide the Golden Lion for Best Film; Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize; Silver Lion for Best Director; Coppa Volpi for Best Actress; Coppa Volpi for Best Actor; Award for Best Screenplay; Special Jury Prize; and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress.

A number of the jury members have Venice connections.

Brizé’s Another World (2021) and Out of Season (2023) premiered in Venice competition; Delpero world premiered her second film Vermiglio at the festival last year,...

The full international juries roster for this year’s Venice Film Festival has been unveiled.

The director-heavy lineup joining previously announced competition president Alexander Payne consists of: Oscar-nominated Brazilian actress and writer Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”), prominent Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof (“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”), Palme d’Or-winning Romanian director-writer-producer Cristian Mungiu, French director Stéphane Brizé (“Out of Season”), Italian director Maura Delpero (“Vermiglio”) and Chinese actor and producer Zhao Tao (“Caught by the Tides”).

In addition to awarding the Golden Lion for best film, the competition jury will also be responsible for handing out the Silver Lion grand jury prize, Silver Lion for best director, Coppa Volpi for best actress, Coppa Volpi for best actor, special jury prize, best screenplay and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for new young actor or actress.

Meanwhile, Palme d’Or-winning French director Julia Ducournau (“Titane”), who was back in Cannes this year with “Alpha,...

You Can Count on Me, Spine #1271, releases in the Criterion Collection on July 22, 2025.

Laura Linney and Matthew Broderick are no strangers to the Criterion Collection. Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale, starring Laura Linney, is currently in the collection with spine #845, and Alexander Payne’s Election, starring Matthew Broderick, is spine #904. I believe You Can Count on Me serves as Mark Ruffalo’s introduction to the collection, and it’s a spectacular way to make an entrance.

You Can Count on Me plot

Sammy (Laura Linney), a single mother, is raising her young son, Rudy (Rory Culkin), in the small town where she grew up. She works at a local bank where she butts heads with her new boss, Brian (Matthew Broderick), and leads a mostly meandering life. When her brother, Terry (Mark Ruffalo), visits unexpectedly, his presence sends a ripple through the lives of both Sammy and Rudy.

The Locarno Film Festival (August 6-16) has unveiled the line-up for the 2025 edition, with world premieres including Radu Jude’s Dracula.

Romanian filmmaker and Berlinale Golden Bear winner Jude’s Romania-Austria-Luxembourg co-production, which competes in the international competition, is a comedy drama shot and set in Transylvania that explores the legend of Dracula through multiple lenses. Luxbox represents sales. Jude returns to Locarno after two films played out of competition last year – Eight Postcards From Utopia, co-directed with Christian Ferencz-Flatz, and Sleep #2.

Locarno’s international competition comprises of 17 world premieres, which will vie for the Golden Leopard awards. Among them...

Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival will debut 17 features, including new works by Radu Jude and Abdellatif Kechiche, as part of its 2025 competition. This year’s event runs from August 6 to 16.

The festival announced its competition lineups this morning. The Radu Jude feature is his much-talked-about Dracula. The film was shot in Transylvania and is said to blend several takes on the Dracula story. Teasing the project as last year’s Locarno Film Festival, Jude said: “I am from Romania. My father is actually from Transylvania. It’s time that someone from Romania does a Dracula film. It’s only Hollywood that has done it 1,000 times. We shouldn’t let Hollywood dominate our Dracula.”

The Abdellatif Kechiche feature is Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due, the third edition in his controversial Mektoub series. Ben Rivers, a Locarno regular, will debut his latest feature, Mare’s Nest. Scroll down for the full Loarno lineup.

Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia,” a love story that re-teams the Oscar-winning director with “The Great Beauty” actor Toni Servillo, has been set as opening film of the upcoming Venice Film Festival.

“La Grazia” – the title can be translated in English as “Grace” – will be launching from the Lido in competition.

Servillo stars in “La Grazia” opposite Italian actor Anna Ferzetti, who recently appeared in Ferzan Ozpetek’s smash hit “Diamonds.” Plot details of Sorrentino’s new film are being kept under wraps besides the fact that it is a love story set somewhere in Italy.

“La Grazia” will mark Servillo’s seventh collaboration with Sorrentino who has shot 10 feature films to date. They first teamed up in Sorrentino’s dazzling 2001 debut, “One Man Up” in which Servillo played an ageing cocaine-addicted crooner. Servillo is best known to international audiences for his memorable turn as Roman writer and socialite Jep...

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This July, Paramount+ is a little light on original content as nothing new is coming out on the streaming service aside from the new Dexter series and the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Paramount+ next month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 13 best films coming to Paramount+ in July 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

A Soldier’s Story (July 1) Rt Score: 90% Credit – Columbia Pictures

A Soldier’s Story is a mystery drama film directed by Norman Jewison from a screenplay by Charles Fuller. Based on Fuller’s 1981 play titled A Soldier’s Play, the 1984 film is set during World War II, and it follows Vernon Waters, an officer of the United States Army,...

When the first Jurassic Park film came out in 1993, it was a megahit that immediately cemented itself as one of the best Hollywood films of all time. Unfortunately, we’ve seen it time and time again — plenty of classic films kick off franchises that struggle to recapture the original’s lightning in a bottle. Jurassic Park is one of those series, but even so, fans keep coming out to see more adventures in the franchise. Why? Because they’re all at least pretty fun. But there’s still a pretty wide range in quality, seven films in.

So what do we think are the best and worst films in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchises?

Related: Jurassic World Rebirth Review — Where Dinosaurs Still Walk but Wonder No Longer Lives 7. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World rebooted the franchise with a return-to-basics approach, but its sequel, Fallen Kingdom, took that...

It’s been 28 years since David Koepp wrote a screenplay about dinosaurs. As you probably know, Koepp was the screenwriter (along with author Michael Crichton) for Steven Spielberg’s original hit “Jurassic Park.” He then wrote the script for Spielberg’s 1997 sequel, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.”

And then, well, he was out of ideas when it came to dinosaurs. When Joe Johnston’s “Jurassic Park III” came around, it was time to let someone else take a shot at it. Koepp has stayed peripherally involved in the “Jurassic World” movies since, offering some notes here and there when asked, but as Koepp told IndieWire, there was nothing of real consequence.

This all changes with “Jurassic World: Rebirth.” It was Spielberg himself who called Koepp and urged him to return to the cinematic world he helped create over 30 years ago. And what Koepp found appealing was that it seemed like...

Exclusive: Nat Faxon & Jim Rash have been set by Netflix to direct Team Hoyt, based on the true story of how Dick Hoyt turned himself into a triathlete and marathoner so he could lug with him son Rick—a non-verbal quadriplegic whose strength and spirit helped galvanize a movement.

Dick and Rick became an iconic father-son racing team, with Dick pushing and pulling his son through more than a thousand endurance events, including 32 Boston Marathons and six Ironman Triathlons. Off the course, Judy Hoyt carried the baton for inclusive education, playing a pivotal role in drafting Chapter 766—the groundbreaking Massachusetts law that became a model for federal special education legislation.

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash Steven Ferdman/Getty Images

The film will be produced by Kevin Walsh’s The Walsh Company, Gotham Chopra’s Religion of Sports, Ryan Stowell, and NFL icon Tom Brady, latter of whom hatched Religion of Sports...

Veteran character actor Joe Marinelli, who played the cross-dressing mobster Bunny Tagliatti in 171 episodes of NBC soap opera Santa Barbara, died Sunday. He was 68 years old.

His death, which was caused by a battle with stomach cancer, was confirmed by his wife Jean Marinelli to THR.

More from TVLineBobby Sherman, Singer/Teen Idol and TV Actor, Dead at 81Lynn Hamilton, of Sanford and Son and The Waltons, Dead at 95R.I.P., Anne Burrell: Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay and More Food Network Stars Pay Tribute ('She Was a Radiant Spirit')

Leigh McCloskey, who played Ethan Asher on Santa Barbara,...

Joe Marinelli, an actor who had roles on TV shows like “General Hospital,” “Santa Barbara” and “The Morning Show,” died Sunday. He was 68.

Marinelli’s friend, Leigh J. McCloskey, confirmed the death on Facebook. “I knew Joe was sick and so admired his indefatigable spirit throughout what sounded like a very difficult, if not impossible, ordeal. Joe was a champion,” McCloskey wrote.

Marinelli was born in Connecticut and studied at Loyola Marymount University and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His early acting gigs included roles on shows like “Cagney & Lacey,” “L.A. Law” and “Hill Street Blues.”

His larger TV roles included playing Bunny Tagliatti in “Santa Barbara,” Jospeh Sorel on “General Hospital” and Donny Spagnoli in “The Morning Show.” Additionally, he had smaller appearances across several major series like “The West Wing,” “House,” “Parenthood,” “Victorious,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “The Offer.” Marinelli also appeared in the...

Joe Marinelli, the veteran character actor who amused and attracted admirers as the cross-dressing mobster Bunny Tagliatti on the NBC soap opera Santa Barbara, has died. He was 68.

Marinelli died Sunday in Burbank after a battle with stomach cancer, his wife of nearly 34 years, musician Jean Marinelli, told The Hollywood Reporter. She said they never had a fight.

After playing Bernardo “Bunny” Tagliatti from 1988-90, Marinelli portrayed bank robber Pauly Hardman on the CBS daytime drama Guiding Light in 1993 and another crook, Joseph Sorel, on the ABC soap General Hospital from 1999-2001.

More recently, he recurred as Uba director Donny Spagnoli on the first three seasons of the Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show.

“I really loved him and what he stood for,” Mark Duplass, who plays Tms executive producer Chip Black on the show, said in a statement. “We didn’t spend 10,000 hours together, but we were spiritually aligned in many ways.

Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Emma Stone are among the rich roster of stars featured in hotly anticipated new movies expected to be launching from Venice Film Festival.

With one month to go until the Lido lineup is unveiled, Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera is racing against the clock to assemble the festival’s 82nd edition, slots for which are still in flux. But what’s clear is that there will be no shortage of the type of buzzy titles that make Venice a prime awards season driver.

Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine,” featuring Dwayne Johnson as two-time UFC heavyweight champ Mark Kerr and Emily Blunt as his wife Dawn; Luca Guadagnino’s #MeToo-themed thriller “After the Hunt” starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri; and “Bugonia,” the latest collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone — who were last...

The independent Beirut-based production house Abbout Productions, led by Georges Schoucair and Myriam Sassine, will receive the Raimondo Rezzonico Award at the 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival.

The production firm will also present two of its movies at Locarno, namely Costa Brava, Lebanon by Mounia Akl, and Memory Box by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.

“In recent years, Georges Schoucair, who took over as CEO of Abbout Productions in 2004, and Myriam Sassine, who joined as lead producer in 2010, have shepherded an array of acclaimed Arab and Lebanese feature films into existence and onto the international distribution marketplace,” Locarno organizers said. “A vital production and distribution hub for the region, Abbout Productions has sustained a network of Lebanese and Arab artists and filmmakers who, despite difficult and often catastrophic circumstances, fight to create independent cinema in the region.”

The company’s movies have also included works by such local filmmakers as Ahmad Ghossein,...

We're halfway through the 2020s, and one thing is clear: Movies are the balm, the salve, and the answer to life's biggest questions. Filmmakers are storytellers, and the stories told over the past five years have ranged from the thrilling to the serene, the serious to the hilarious, and beyond. We've seen box-office records smashed, non-English language films move the pop culture needle here in the U.S., and original ideas rewarded with praise and popcorn buckets. We've seen movies, and we're not stopping anytime soon.

For now, though, we're offering up a quick recap as to where we stand on the best films released between 2020 and now. Both blockbusters and indie surprises can be found below, but did your favorite make the cut? You'll have to keep reading to find out and start making a watchlist of the best movies of the 2020s so far!

Read more: 15 Best Movies...

Nebraska director Alexander Payne will receive the Pardo d’Onore at the Locarno Film Festival.

The American filmmaker will be presented with the honorary leopard on Friday, August 15. He will also present his 2011 pic The Descendants and 2013 title Nebraska and participate in a public discussion.

Payne, a writer-director also behind the likes of Sideway and The Holdovers, has won two Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and been nominated for Best Director on three occasions.

After studying filmmaking at UCLA, Payne wrote and directed politically-charged comedy Citizen Ruth, starring Laura Dern, in 1996. It premiered at Sundance and led to a run of seven influential films, which have starred the likes of Paul Giamatti, Reese Witherspoon and Jack Nicholson.

“Alexander Payne is an erudite auteur with an encyclopaedic cinephile knowledge,” said Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival. “Gifted with an unerring sense for the bittersweet facets of human comedy,...

Sylvain Chomet, the great French animation filmmaker, started his movie career with a short called The Old Lady and the Pigeons, which won a BAFTA and the Grand Prize at the 1997 Annecy Animation Film Festival and got an Oscar nomination. He followed that up in 2003 with two more Oscar nominations including Best Animated Feature for his first full-length film, the wildly inventive The Triplets of Belleville, and in 2010 with another acclaimed animated feature The Illusionist, which was based on an unproduced 1956 Jacques Tati script and featured an animated version of Tati in an emotional story about his relationship with his estranged older daughter. It brought him a fourth Oscar nomination.

Chomet has dabbled in live action as well, but only recently returned to animation, notably last year’s five-minute preface to Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux. Even if the film itself was critically maligned, Chomet’s clever and richly animated opening was much admired.

The Locarno Film Festival is set to honour filmmaker Alexander Payne with the Pardo d’Onore, its honorary award for outstanding achievement in cinema.

Payne will also present his films The Descendants (2011) and Nebraska (2013) at Locarno, and participate in a public discussion with the festival audience.

Payne’s films have collectively won three Academy Awards, three BAFTAs, and eight Golden Globes.

His writer and director credits include Election (1999), About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004), and most recently the The Holdovers (2023).

The Pardo d’Onore has previously been awarded to filmmakers including Manoel de Oliveira, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard, Harmony Korine, and Jane Campion.

Jim Jarmusch’s long-awaited feature “Father Mother Sister Brother” is set to debut in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, running 27 August–6 September 2025 on the Lido.

The anthology follows three interconnected family stories across the United States, Ireland and France, and marks Jarmusch’s first narrative feature since The Dead Don’t Die in 2019. Its ensemble includes Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Mayim Bialik, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat. Principal photography wrapped quietly in Ireland and France last June.

The road to Venice has been unusually circuitous. Early trade chatter tipped the film for Cannes, yet it was absent from Thierry Frémaux’s April line-up announcement, prompting speculation about a late switch to the autumn circuit. World of Reel later reported that the project “skipped Cannes” and became a leading contender for Venice after the festival’s selection committee passed on it.

ABC and 20th Television’s upcoming series 9-1-1: Nashville has added four to its series regular cast, including Hailey Kilgore (Power Book III: Raising Kanan), Michael Provost (The Holdovers), Juani Feliz (Harlem), and Hunter McVey, sources reveal to Deadline. They join Chris O’Donnell, Jessica Capshaw, LeAnn Rimes, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who were previously announced.

ABC and 20th Television declined to comment on the castings.

9-1-1: Nashville is described as a high-octane procedural about our heroic first responders, as well as their family saga of power and glamour set in one of America’s most diverse and dynamic cities.

The project received a straight-to-series order from the network in February. The new offshoot joins the mothership series 9-1-1 on ABC, where it moved in 2023 following its cancellation at Fox. The second series from the franchise, 9-1-1: Lone Star, was canceled after five seasons in 2023 and completed its run early this year.

Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino is this year’s recipient of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award to be bestowed upon him during the 31st edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, which will also feature a retrospective of his films that will be screened as part of the fest’s “tribute to” program.

The honor and tribute will be “in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the art of cinema,” Sarajevo fest organizers said on Tuesday. Sorrentino will also hold a masterclass and “share his thoughts on contemporary art in a conversation with the audience,” they noted.

“I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious recognition and grateful for the attention given to my filmography,” said Sorrentino. “I look forward to being with you in Sarajevo. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The fest highlighted the effect the Italian director and screenwriter’s oeuvre has had on audiences. “Paolo...

Focus Features and Carnival Films have released the official teaser trailer for Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, which will open in theaters globally on September 12, 2025.

Downton Abbey creator and Academy Award winner Julian Fellowes wrote the third and final film. It is produced by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning Gareth Neame, Fellowes, and BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning Liz Trubridge.

BAFTA and Emmy Award nominee Simon Curtis is returning to direct Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale after helming 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era.

The cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Joanne Froggatt, Paul Giamatti, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, and Elizabeth McGovern.

Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, Dominic West, Penelope Wilton, Arty Froushan, Joely Richardson, Paul Copley, and Douglas Reith round out the cast.

Giamatti is reprising his role as Cora Grantham’s brother,...

Bruce Dern is a two-time Oscar nominee who shows no signs of slowing down, having appeared in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" (2019). Let's take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1936, Dern made his film debut with an uncredited appearance in Elia Kazan's "Wild River" (1960). He popped up in a number of supporting roles throughout the decade, making a name for himself in exploitation films produced by low-budget king Roger Corman.

Dern hit his stride in the 1970s, when a number of offbeat-looking performers suddenly became leading men. He earned his first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Hal Ashby's Vietnam War drama "Coming Home" (1978), playing a Ptsd-afflicted marine whose wife (Jane Fonda) falls in love with a paralyzed vet (Jon Voight) while he's deployed.

Dern spent most of his career as a colorful supporting player,...

Exclusive: Matt Cornett (Summer of 69), Ramon Reed (Incoming), and Chris Klein (Fear Street: Prom Queen) are about to wrap on the North Carolina shoot for Bad Counselors, a new indie from director Chris Dowling (Where Hope Grows).

The project is described as a fish-out-of-water comedy that follows two hard-partying fraternity brothers who pose as middle school camp counselors to work off community service and salvage their senior year. Written by Dexter Masland, Ryan Gunnarson, and Taylor Grabowsky, the film also stars Missi Pyle (Captain Fantastic), Brec Bassinger (Final Destination: Bloodlines), McKaley Miller (Dexter: Resurrection), Nathan Gamble (The Dark Knight), Ja’Marion Kennedy and Markiel Cockrell.

Loam Entertainment is fully financing the pic and producing alongside Zero Gravity and Narrow Gate Entertainment. Producers include Loam Entertainment CEO Robert Crotty, director of development Kristopher Galuska, and Chris Fenton, alongside Houston Bradley for Zero Gravity, Chris Roark for Narrow Gate, and Dowling. Thomas Evans...

Alexander Payne confirms that development is ongoing for Election 2, but the setting is set to be changed. More here.

Back in 2023, Alexander Payne was out and about promoting The Holdovers when he confirmed that a sequel to 1999’s Election was still in the works, but could yet “go either way”. At the time, it seemed like Payne was simply to busy to give the project his full attention, but his interest in bringing back Reese Witherspoon as the formidable Tracy Flick was clear:

“Tom Perotta, who wrote the book Election, has written a very fine sequel,” Payne declared, “and Reese Witherspoon and I have talked about it.”.

He added too that “Jim Taylor and I, my co-writer, have talked about doing it. But we just haven’t gotten to it yet. It’s only because everything takes a while, and I have a couple things to do before that. We...

Thierry Frémaux, the Delegate Général of the Cannes Film Festival, is propping up the Majestic Beach’s main bar. The joint’s buzzing, the victors being lionized after what has been acknowledged as a strong competition and selection, and I have the temerity to wonder idly when he’ll retire.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs. “You know, in France the social contract is something different.”

“Even if I’m fired, I stay,” he finishes defiantly.

He laughs, then turns the tables and cheekily asks when I will retire.

“I don’t want you to retire,” he says caressing my arm. ”Stay with us.”

Fremaux first visited Cannes in 1979, driving from Lyon in a truck. Every day that year he remained on the Croisette without watching any movies “because I couldn’t attend any film. Each evening I used to go back to the highway and sleep in the car in the gas station.

Looks like you could use a cupcake! More than 25 years removed from 1999’s Election, writer/director Alexander Payne is providing an update on the sequel, which has been teased for a few years now. Considering the source novel, Tracy Flick Can’t Win, got its own sequel, it seemed only fitting that Payne’s movie – which put Reese Witherspoon in an entire new clique as far as Hollywood went – would follow suit. So what’s going on with the Election sequel?

Alexander Payne recently spoke to MovieWeb about where the sequel to Election stood, and it’s both a positive and negative update. “Jim Taylor, my co-writer, and I hadn’t thought about a sequel until Tom Perrotta wrote this fine book, ‘Tracy Flick Can’t Win,’ and it whetted everybody’s appetite. Reese Witherspoon’s, mine, Jim Taylor’s, the producers, the studio. The only trouble was that I just...

The 95-year-old actor gives an enjoyably twinkly performance in a film that misjudges how seriously its story should be taken

Scarlett Johansson’s directorial feature debut, from a screenplay by Tory Kamen, is honestly intentioned and sweetly acted – notably by the film’s 95-year-old star June Squibb, whose remarkable career renaissance began with her being nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for Alexander Payne’s 2013 film Nebraska. But this frankly odd film is misjudged and naive about the implications of its Holocaust theme. Its bland, TV-movie tone of sentimentality fails to accommodate the existential nightmare of the main plot strand, or indeed the subordinate question of when and whether to put your elderly parent in a care home.

Squibb plays Eleanor Morgenstein, a widowed Jewish lady with a waspish way of speaking her mind to condescending youngsters, including the blandly unhelpful teen working in a supermarket who presumes to...

The Oscar campaign for Eleanor the Great starts now.

Raucous cheers and quite a few tears greeted the world premiere of Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, which premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section on Tuesday.

The Cannes crowd warmly embraced the dramedy, which stars June Squibb at the titular Eleanor Morgenstern (Squibb), a fiercely independent Florida retiree who, after the sudden death of her lifelong best friend, relocates to New York to live with her daughter. A series of events leads her to a young woman, played by Erin Kellyman, suffering from the loss of her mother. The two bond over their shared grief and a desire to reconnect with their Jewish identity. But Eleanor has a secret that threatens to destroy the friendship they have built.

The Hollywood Reporter‘s Cannes review of the film was mixed, with critic Lovia Gyarkye saying the film had a “bold premise that could have worked better.

“If I’m called ‘icon’ one more time, I’m going to scream,” laughs June Squibb from her Los Angeles home.

It’s been a big year for the 95-year-old actress. Thelma, Squibb’s first leading feature film role, became one of the biggest success stories at the specialty box office last year, earning over $12 million at the global box office and becoming the highest-grossing movie ever for distributor Magnolia over its two-decade history. She also voices a character in Inside Out 2, which became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It’s the kind of run that anyone, let alone someone in their seventh decade in entertainment, dreams of.

While flattered by the attention that comes with being Hollywood’s favorite nonagenarian, Squibb finds the fawning a little ridiculous at times: “A 70-year-old will say, ‘I want to be you when I grow up!’” After all, Squibb is...

Alexander Payne’s next film has been acquired by Searchlight Pictures for worldwide release, and it’s the first film Payne will shoot in Europe and in another language.

Payne’s next feature is called “Somewhere Out There,” and it will star “The Worst Person in the World” actress Renate Reinsve. Payne is directing the film from a script by Erlend Loe and based on an idea by Åke Sandgren. Plot details are being kept under wraps.

Searchlight is reuniting with Payne after releasing two of his most beloved films, “The Descendants” and “Sideways,” the latter of which last year celebrated its 20th anniversary, and both of which won Payne the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.

Payne is planning a shoot in Denmark in early 2026. Birgitte Skov is producing for Scanbox Production, which is releasing the film in the Nordics region.

“Some of my very finest filmmaking experiences have involved Searchlight.