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President Trump has pardoned and actively worked to rehabilitate the image of several convicted criminals, and John Oliver wouldn’t be surprised if convicted sex offender Roman Polanski is next. Well, so long as he’s willing to publicly support Trump.

During Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight,” the HBO host focused his main segment on Trump’s immigration enforcement policies. Among them has been the reallocation of government employees from organizations including the FBI, DEA, IRS, Postal Service and more to Ice for deportation raids.

Oliver then pointed out that even an employee has publicly said how “infuriating” it is that drug cases, human trafficking cases and child exploitation cases have all been deprioritized, which made the host chuckle.

“I’ve got to say, for a guy who pandered so heavily to people convinced pedophile sex offenders and traffickers had infiltrated our government, Trump’s sure making the...

Last Week Tonight‘s John Oliver piled on Dean Cain during his telecast after the actor announced earlier this week he would be joining Ice.

“You know, there’s an old saying in Hollywood: ‘If all you can get is Dean Cain, you are f—ed,'” Oliver said during the program, which largely covered immigration enforcement and president Donald Trump’s mass deportation promise.

“Now, I’m not saying that Ice isn’t finding people,” he continued. “I’m just saying, when you are reduced to pinning a badge on the 59-year-old star of The Dog Who Saved Christmas, The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation, The Dog Who Saved the Holidays, The Dog Who Saved Halloween, The Dog Who Saved Easter and The Dog Who Saved Summer, maybe you are in trouble. Although, on the plus side, no need for that guy to wear a mask because the chances...

A pair of music documentaries and a live concert from Jin of BTS on his first solo tour join indie animation, a searing look at Sudan, a serial killer horror and Kristin Scott Thomas’ directorial debut at the specialty box office as independents spot another window with fewer new studio releases. Roman Polanski’s 2019 historical drama on the Dreyfus Affair opens in New York.

The widest this weekend is Roadside Attractions’ horror-thriller Strange Harvest, written and directed by Stuart Ortiz, on 771 screens. Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for “Mr. Shiny,” a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a dark cosmic force. Stars Peter Zizzo, Terri Apple, Andy Lauer, Matthew Peschio, Janna Cardia, Travis Wolfe Sr., Christina Helene Braa. This is at 94% with critics off 32 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

Vertical is out with comedy-drama My Mother’s Wedding,...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Film at Lincoln Center

A career-spanning Luc Moullet retrospective begins; In the Mood for Love and In the Mood for Love 2001 continue.

Museum of Modern Art

A Michael Caine retrospective begins.

Film Forum

The long-lost director’s cut of Joseph Cates’ Who Killed Teddy Bear? begins screening on 35mm; Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy starts a belated run; Brazil and a number of Akira Kurosawa’s most seminal films play.

IFC Center

The Lovers on the Bridge plays in a new restoration while In the Mood for Love and In the Mood for Love 2001 continue; Cure, Commando, Friday, and Ghost in the Shell screen late; Babe: Pig in the City shows early.

Roxy Cinema

The Wachowskis’ Speed Racer and Cassavetes’ Husbands screen on 35mm; Alien and a restoration of Christiane F. also play.

Anthology Film Archives

The...

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2019 Venice coverage. An Officer and a Spy opens in theaters on August 8, 2025.

What road should one take when approaching a film like An Officer and a Spy? On one hand, it is a perfectly robust, informative, prestige-y and even timely dramatization of the Dreyfus affair, the infamous late 19th-century political scandal in which a French Jewish soldier was wrongfully imprisoned for treason. On the other hand, it is a story about injustice and prosecution directed by, of all people, Roman Polanski.

So to that first hand: an especially dashing and mustachioed Jean Dujardin stars as George Picquart, the man responsible for pulling the thread from which the Dreyfus scandal ultimately unraveled. Polanski arranges the narrative in much the same way that Mike Leigh did with Peterloo, another film about 19th-century social injustice–and one in which the director carefully set out the names,...

Hollywood can be a capricious place, so there's truly no shortage of stories about actors whose starring roles changed seemingly on a whim. For every time a casting idea works out, there are dozens of "what-ifs," like when Val Kilmer almost had the role of Morpheus in "The Matrix" before Laurence Fishburne came along. When it came to the now-classic 1973 comedy caper "The Sting," however, there were a whole bunch of potential big name stars up for roles, and they all almost exclusively turned down the film. Since "The Sting" went on to win seven Academy Awards and has become quite beloved over the years, those actors who turned down roles might have some regrets about it... unless they happen to be Jack Nicholson.

Before he terrified us all playing Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" or showed us how chilling a comic book villain can be as...

The Dreyfus Affair, a viper’s nest of cover-ups and deception, was triggered in 1894 by one real-life conspiracy: that of a lone French army major selling secrets to the German Empire. As Roman Polanski tells it in the painstakingly researched historical drama An Officer and a Spy, this was far less notable than the conspiracies that followed.

The second was a coordinated effort by the army, through doctored evidence and manufactured testimony, to frame Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus (Louis Garrel), leading to his conviction and imprisonment. The third, which existed in the minds of the public and government factions who slaked their nationalist passions with Dreyfus’s shaming, was that of international Jewish interests working to undermine the French body politic and steer the course of world events. The fourth revolved around the government trying to preserve its image by concealing the existence of the second. And the fifth, forming...

Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments is an incredible follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale, giving a bit of hope to the dystopian world of Gilead. However, another reading of the book indicates that the whole story may have been a retelling by June as she boards the van led by the Eyes at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Both novels use a narrative device that indicates that these are retellings and published historical accounts within the fictional narrative of the books. Both end with an epilogue, where the texts are analyzed and their authenticity questioned at a symposium.

The ambiguity is more in The Testaments as it is told through three protagonists, with two of them being Offred’s daughters and one being an influential person in her life.

The Handmaid’s Tale’s Vague Ending Influences Our Reading of The Testaments A still from The Handmaid’s Tale | Credits: Hulu

Margaret...

Adrien Brody recently made headlines for his Oscar-winning performance in The Brutalist, but long before he ever played Lászlo Tóth in the film, he starred in a WWII epic that’s still a streaming hit years later. Brody features alongside Frank Finlay (Othello) and Emilia Fox (Dorian Gray) in The Pianist, the 2002 WWII epic following an acclaimed Polish musician (Brody) who faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family, leading him to hide in the ruins of Warsaw to survive. The Pianist is currently streaming on both Prime Video and Tubi in America, but globally, it’s one of the most popular VOD purchases in countries like Slovenia, among others. The Pianist earned nearly flawless scores of 95% from critics and 96% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and it grossed $120 million globally against a $35 million budget.

In addition to finding immense critical and financial success, The Pianist was nominated for seven Oscars,...

Stephen King has had over 50 of his novels, short stories, or novellas adapted on screen, making him one of the most popular authors. The author's smooth and straightforward prose attracts filmmakers because it's filled with relatable characters, and rooted in a strong sense of place (often rural Maine). Once he settles you in the story's rhythms, King will smack you in the face with some of the most stomach-churning gore or existential dread. King's books often explore the insidious evil beneath small-town America, the emotional fragility of childhood, and unfold as Lovecraftian epics with a vast mythology.

But not every Stephen King film adaptation is successful or worth watching. For every "The Shawshank Redemption," there's "Cell"; for every "Misery," there's "Trucks." The failure of such movies to capture the essence of the source material would bother a lot of authors. In an interview with Vulture, Stephen King references "Rosemary's Baby" author Ira Levin,...

The air in late 19th-century Paris hangs thick with suspicion, a humidity of political anxiety that clings to every cobblestone. It is in this environment that Roman Polanski’s film begins, not with an explanation but with a ritual. We witness the public degradation of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, as his sword is broken and his insignia are torn from his uniform.

Accused of treason, he is paraded like a broken idol before a contemptuous military audience and shipped off to the infamous Devil’s Island. Our entry point into this historical labyrinth is not the victim himself, but Colonel Georges Picquart, a man who watches the proceedings with the detached approval of his class.

Freshly promoted to head the military’s intelligence unit—the very one that condemned Dreyfus—Picquart soon stumbles upon a thread of evidence that, if pulled, threatens to unravel...

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A Normal Woman is a psychological thriller drama film directed by Lucky Kuswandi, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Andri Cung. The Netflix film follows Milla, a socialite who mysteriously develops a rash, and as it spreads, she begins fearing getting rejected by her own husband and family. A Normal Woman stars Marissa Anita, Dion Wiyoko, Giselle Anastasia, Mima Shafa, and Widyawati. So, if you loved the thrilling psychological story, intense drama, and compelling characters in Netflix’s A Normal Woman, here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Safe (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Sony Pictures Classics

Safe is a psychological thriller drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes. The 1995 film follows Carol White, a suburban housewife leading an ordinary life as she inexplicably develops various allergies. Things soon get worse as her health...

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.

Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset LdH, popularly known as Jacqueline Bisset, is a British actress. She is best known for her roles in films such as Airport (1970), Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and The Sweet Ride (1968). She received multiple Golden Globe Award nominations.

Jacqueline Bisset Biography: Age, Early Life, Family, Education

Jacqueline Bisset was born on September 13, 1944 (Jacqueline Bisset age: 80) in Surrey, England. Her father, George Maxwell Fraser Bisset, is a general practitioner. Her mother, Arlette Alexander, is a former lawyer. Bisset grew up near Reading, Berkshire. She has a brother, Max Bisset.

Bisset entered the industry through modelling. She took acting lessons and worked as a fashion model in order to pay for them. Bisset attended school at the Lycée Français de Londres in London. Her parents divorced after several years of marriage.

Jacqueline Bisset Biography: Career, Roman Polanski

Bisset started her career in film by first appearing uncredited as...

The one thing that makes No Country for Old Men stand out from every other Western is in its depiction of the villainous Anton Chigurh. Played by Javier Bardem, the pasty-looking psychopath who trudges along the desert, prowling from one town to the next, is creepy enough to make one’s skin crawl.

So iconic was Bardem’s depiction of the villain that it won him an Academy Award, got Chigurh ranked as one of the greatest villains (and movie characters) of all time, and was decidedly labeled as one of the most realistic portrayals of a psychopath in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

It becomes not only difficult but also impossible to imagine anyone else playing the iconic role. However, Mark Strong came this close to nabbing the role that was destined to be played by the Spanish actor.

Javier Bardem’s Iconic Villain in No Country for Old...

Earlier this week, Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro unveiled his lineup of more than 200 titles — almost half of which are world premieres — that will screen at the Swiss temple of indie cinema.

They include new works by Locarno regulars such as Romania’s Radu Jude — winner of the fest’s special jury prize two years ago for “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World” who is back with the hotly-anticipated “Dracula” — as well as experimental U.K. filmmaker Ben Rivers, returning for the third time. His “Mare’s Nest” tells the story of a young girl named Moon (played by rising talent Moon Guo Barker) as she travels through a mysterious world free of adults.

The Locarno competition also comprises a new film by France’s Palme d’Or-winning but scandal-plagued auteur Abdellatif Kechiche. “Mektoub ,My Love: Canto Due” is the final installment in a trilogy,...

TCM’s Two for One series returns this Saturday, June 28, with guest curator Nathan Lane, who has picked two touchstones of noir cinema for a double feature. Airing at 8:00 Pm Et, the evening begins with Billy Wilder’s 1944 classic Double Indemnity, followed by Roman Polanski’s 1974 neo-noir, Chinatown. Lane joins host Ben Mankiewicz to […]

Two for One: Nathan Lane – Double Indemnity & Chinatown...

The finale of The Handmaid’s Tale is arguably one of the worst ever to hit television history. While the earlier seasons of the show ended with a lot of thrill and drama, this one was a total disappointment. So much so that the episode received a 5.7 rating on IMDb, making it the only episode that fell below 6.0.

Fans were expecting a lot more from the season finale, and it just didn’t deliver. Instead of the gratifying climax the fans were looking forward to, all they got was a confusing scene of June picking up a pen. It was open to interpretation and ambiguous, which didn’t go down well with the audience.

What happened in the season 6 finale of The Handmaid’s Tale?

The long-running series is known to deliver thought-provoking content over the course of time. In a surprising turn of events, the finale episode for season 6 was rather slow-burning and contemplative.

Horror doesn’t always need jump scares to rattle you—some films creep under your skin with creeping dread and masterful pacing. Slow-burn horror builds tension so gradually that by the end, you’re gripped by unease you didn’t see coming.

We’ve ranked 12 slow-burn horror movies, from chilling to unforgettable, that masterfully ratchet up tension. Here’s why these films will leave you unsettled long after the credits roll.

12. The Invitation (2015) XYZ Films

A man attends a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife, where strange vibes hint at a sinister agenda. Karyn Kusama’s tight direction turns polite conversation into creeping dread.

The slow unraveling of motives keeps us on edge. We’re hooked by its claustrophobic unease.

11. Lake Mungo (2008) Mungo Productions

A mockumentary explores a family’s grief after a teen’s death, uncovering eerie secrets. Joel Anderson’s subtle chills and ghostly clues build a haunting atmosphere.

Films have a magical ability to transport us across worlds and time when done right. While fictional tales have their own magic, some stories are so extraordinary, so deeply human, that they deserve to be told on the silver screen.

Such biographical dramas, rooted in real-life events, have the rare power to not only captivate and entertain but also to educate and inspire. These films peel away the layers of history and paint a picture of the triumphs, struggles, and complexities of some of the most remarkable individuals who helped shape the world and occasionally, and made it a better place.

From tales of heroism in the face of unimaginable horrors and adversities to stories of quiet resilience, Hollywood has no shortage of biographical dramas that resonate. Although there are times when the creative flair takes over and adds a bit of dramatic flourish to create a story worthy of cinematic appeal,...

“Hell is other people,” Jean-Paul Sartre once wrote, but he clearly hadn’t spent enough time watching award shows and sports pressers lately. If you told me that one week I’d be cringing through Adrien Brody hawking gum at Georgina Chapman like it was dodgeball in the Dolby Theatre, and the next I’d be decoding the frosty silence between J.J. Spaun and his wife, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Yet here we are. One man choked on charm at the Oscars; the other forgot to name-check the woman who wiped vomit at 3 a.m. before his championship moment. Two entirely different stages, one identical thread: misread gestures and blown-out-of-proportion reactions that somehow became social media’s emotional buffet.

And me? I’m just over here, sipping my metaphorical tea, wondering if common sense missed its flight again.

J.J. Spaun’s family drama unfolds after Adrien Brody...

Back in the mid-2000s, John Carpenter directed two episodes of "Masters of Horror." The celebrated horror anthology series gave a lot of creative leeway to well-known auteurs in the horror world, so each episode was, essentially, a full feature film unto itself. Carpenter's first episode, "Cigarette Burns," was a clever riff on his own 1995 film "In the Mouth of Madness." The episode centered on a twisted film collector (Udo Kier) who tasks a private investigator (Norman Reedus) to track down an ultra-rare film print. The film is said to feature a real-life angel being de-winged, which will cause the person watching it to mentally deteriorate. As a whole, "Cigarette Burns" is pretty dang good, gets some details about film archiving correct, and even features a scene of a man feeding his own intestines (!) into a movie projector.

Unfortunately, Carpenter followed that episode with another one titled "Pro-Life," a curious...

Alex Gibney is known for exposés about Enron, CIA torture tactics and the cult of Scientology. For his sanity’s sake, sometimes he needs to make a movie about Paul Simon or Frank Sinatra or The Sopranos. The latter manifested as 2024’s Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos. Using HBO’s archives, creator Chase’s personal effects, interviews with the cast and writers and a replica of Dr. Melfi’s therapy office, Gibney and his team pieced together a moving tribute to the most important television show of the past 30 years.

What made you say yes?

I was asked to do it, and I wondered, “Do I want to do it?” I love The Sopranos, but I didn’t want to make a Wikipedia entry. Then I met David Chase, and I found him to be such a fascinating character. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to...

Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” is finally getting a U.S. release, six years after premiering at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize under Lucrecia Martel’s jury. The film, which won four of its 12 César nominations including Best Director in 2020, is now set for a two-week limited engagement, starting August 8, at New York City’s Film Forum.

Film Forum isn’t handling the release beyond showings at its own venue, IndieWire has learned, which were booked by “An Officer and a Spy” producer Alain Goldman. News of the engagement was included deep into Film Forum’s summer programming announcement that went out Monday, June 9 (and also highlighted by World of Reel).

“An Officer and a Spy” is led by Louis Garrel, who portrays French army Captain Alfred Dreyfus after his trial. The politically scandalous Dreyfus affair took place around the turn...

Fans saw Adrien Brody take way too long to finish his Oscar speech on the stage after he won Best Actor for The Brutalist, but it was not the first time he cut the orchestra. Brody did the same when he won his first Oscar for The Pianist, and he even kissed Halle Berry unannounced when he received the award.

Brody’s performance in the World War II drama has been received positively, and he was the youngest actor to win the Oscar. He reportedly starved himself and gave up many of his possessions to get into the zone of pianist Władysław Szpilman. However, Joseph Fiennes was reportedly first considered for the role.

Adrien Brody would have lost his Oscar-winning performance had Joseph Fiennes accepted The Pianist Adrien Brody in The Pianist | Credits: Focus Features

Despite two Oscars to his name, Adrien Brody is often not considered to be among his greatest contemporaries.

While Jackie Chan's Hong Kong action movies were huge overseas, it wasn't until the mid '90s when he really started to capture the attention of American audiences. It's easy to see why his magnetic presence carried over considering his stunt work was (and still is) jaw-droppingly impressive. Couple Chan's popularity with the rising star power of Chris Tucker and you have the "Rush Hour" franchise, a trilogy of globe-spanning action comedies that revitalized the buddy comedy for a new generation.

Hong Kong Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) would clash with the loud-mouthed LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) as they found themselves getting into all sorts of explosive hijinks. A lot of the back-and-forth humor stemmed from the pair commenting on their various culture shocks, which certainly places these movies in the period in which they were made. Even with a lot of the casual racist and sexist...

Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" is a controversial horror classic with a legacy that transcends cinema. Not only is it a terrifying tale of Satanic cults and devilish pregnancies, but the apartment the movie was shot in is reportedly haunted. What's more, the wave of real-life deaths surrounding "Rosemary's Baby" has given it a "cursed" reputation, further adding to its eerie sensibilities. Polanski's chiller is infamous, but the same can't be said about its sequel, "Look What Happened to Rosemary's Baby" -- a made-for-television cheapie from 1976 that most people have forgotten about. Either that, or they are trying their best to erase it from their memories.

Directed by Sam O'Steen, the forgotten ABC sequel chronicles Rosemary's son, Andrew (Stephen McHattie), from his childhood through to his adult years. What a life he lives, too, as he's kidnapped by a sex worker, Marjean (Tina Louise), at an early age and...

TCM is giving horror fans a double dose of classic chills this Saturday with Two for One, and none other than Paul Giamatti is calling the shots. Airing at 8 Pm Et, the episode features two landmark films in the genre: Herk Harvey’s eerie 1962 mind-bender Carnival of Souls and Roman Polanski’s 1968 masterpiece Rosemary’s […]

Two for One: Paul Giamatti – Carnival of Souls & Rosemary’s Baby...

The wickedness is calling you–for free. When you sleep tonight, your thirst for sinister, sadistic, and supernatural will be quenched. Fawesome offers binge-worthy horror movies that hold no boundaries, from brutal slashers to chilling supernatural scares. These five most searched scary picks will knot your heart and soul together, whether you are a horror purist or a thrill-seeker, this list of darkness has something for everyone.

So if you wish to be awakened by the lurking darkness, stream these nightmares free on Fawesome. You don’t even need to sign up; explore the haunting corners of horror cinema without hitting a pause on your wallet. Scream, squirm, and sleep with the lights on. These are more than movies, they’re passages for the horror-obsessed.

Here are five ways to feed your fear, awaken your soul, and dive into the horror world– now streaming free on Fawesome.

The Haunting in...

Director Danny Boyle returns to the rage virus apocalypse in 28 Years Later. Sony Pictures invited a select group of New York City journalists to meet the Oscar-winner and preview footage from the upcoming film. The premise has Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) taking his 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams) away from their island refuge in the Scottish Highlands. At the event, we were allowed the exciting opportunity to see the horror sequel's intro and a significant chunk of the first act. He then discussed how the pandemic influenced the narrative for 28 Years Later, by changing public behavior on how to react to a crisis, and how that continued in the aftermath:

"The 28 is again important. One of the things that was interesting was that it was 28 years. We thought about the way that Covid first hit us all. We kind of panicked into the behavior we were told to do: wear blue...

A sequel to any Quentin Tarantino film, unless pre-planned like the Kill Bill movies, seems farcical and not realistic. But that might not be the case. Netflix's rumored Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel appears to have real teeth.

This is based on the announcement that the project has added two actors to the cast. They are Elizabeth Debicki of The Crown and The Night Manager fame, and Scott Caan, well-known for his roles in Hawaii Five-o and the Ocean's trilogy. The announcement was confirmed by Variety.

While Tarantino is not expected to direct, he is writing the script. But don't be alarmed. The director is still going to be high-quality because David Fincher is attached to do so.

Planned Netflix-produced sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood adds to cast

Brad Pitt is also set to reprise his role from the original as Cliff Booth. The...

Thirty years after he won the Caméra d’Or for the best first film at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival for “The White Balloon,” a new film from Iranian director Jafar Panahi is back on the Croisette. But more to the point, Panahi himself is back in Cannes, where his films have had to screen in his absence while he languished in prison or under house arrest for making what the authorities said was propaganda against the Iranian government.

With “It Was Just an Accident,” which premiered on Tuesday in the main competition, the director is back for the first time since an Iranian court gave him a prison sentence and a 20-year ban on making movies in 2010. Despite an additional prison sentence in 2022, Panahi has been deemed to have served his sentence — and while he still makes movies clandestinely because he could never get the required government approval for the...

Die My Love, Lynne Ramsay’s fifth film, ends with a familiar song sung by an unfamiliar voice: The director herself delivers a stripped-down version of Joy Division’s 1980 hit “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Marital-breakdown songs are usually the stuff of country and western, but this stark post-punk anthem was written by Manchester’s Ian Curtis, who married at 19 in 1975 and was dead, by suicide, a month before his most famous song was released, 45 years ago, almost to the day (if you’re reading this during Cannes 2025). Ramsay’s mesmerizing film is as close as you might get to seeing Curtis’ song come to life, the brutal but beautiful story of a married woman’s mental disintegration as post-natal depression consumes and obliterates her.

The famous saying has it that hell is other people, but here, hell for other people is Grace (Jennifer Lawrence), a big-city author who has...

This year’s Cannes Film Festival kicked off with Gerard Depardieu’s 18-month suspended sentence for sexual assault on two women during the filming of “The Green Shutters.” While that case itself has nothing to do with the festival, the sentencing of Depardieu, once a frequent presence at Cannes, was a reminder of how far France has come in embracing the #MeToo movement it was initially slow to champion.

And that wasn’t the only sign of shifting attitudes in the country and its most prominent showcase for cinema when it comes to sexual violence. This year, Cannes has issued a new rule banning filmmakers or talent accused of sexual misconduct from walking the red carpet and presenting films at the festival. Because of the change, the festival forbid Theo Navarro-Mussy from attending the premiere of Dominik Moll’s “Case 137” because he has been accused of rape and sexual assault.

Apart from the reflex response to a jump scare, the purpose of almost any horror movie is to disturb you. Yet if you’re a junkie for horror films, you can build up a tolerance to that sort of thing. It can be rare to encounter the kind of horror movie that genuinely creeps you out, that gets under your skin, that troubles your dreams. But “Bring Her Back,” the second feature by the Australian YouTube horror-comedy pranksters-turned-filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou (“Talk to Me”), qualifies as a majorly disturbing piece of horror.

The film, set in suburban Australia, is a domestic nightmare, and it is also, at moments, a bit of a hallucinatory free-form shambles. But you can’t separate the two. The old-school classicist in me wishes that “Bring Her Back” were more tidy and logical, but the Philippous work in a mode that’s impressionistic in an...

What do you consider Quentin Tarantino’s best film? We know that’s a bit of a Sophie’s Choice, isn’t it? There are many great options. With that said, if you regard Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as the director’s most effective offering, you’re in good company. It turns out that Tarantino himself considers that Oscar-winning effort the most effective of his iconic cinematic oeuvre. How do we know? Because Tarantino once said as much to Howard Stern while he was making the rounds promoting his book, Cinema Speculation.

The controversial radio personality asked Tarantino to name his favorite of his films, to which the Pulp Fiction director replied: “For years people used to ask me stuff like that, and I would say something like, ‘Oh, they’re all my children.’” Tarantino continued, “I really do think Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is my best movie.

Adrien Brody might’ve made Oscar history with The Pianist, but that golden statue didn’t come with a guarantee. His post-win career hit a weird slump – forgettable roles, missed chances, and a slow fade from the limelight. But then Wes Anderson happened.

The very king of quirky cinema threw Brody a lifeline with The Darjeeling Limited and never stopped casting him since. From pastel dreamscapes to eccentric ensembles, Anderson gave Brody space to reinvent himself. One can say, Anderson resuscitated his career.

How Wes Anderson rescued Adrien Brody’s career after his Oscar high Adrien Brody as Władysław Szpilman in The Pianist | Credits: StudioCanal

Adrien Brody still holds the title: youngest ever Best Actor Oscar winner. But even after The Pianist, things got quiet. Until Wes Anderson walked in.

The Brutalist star admitted he’ll forever be indebted as Anderson was the first to see past the brooding. He...

Nearly 92, more controversial than ever, and coming off perhaps the least-liked film of his career, Roman Polanski has not entirely been expected to direct again. Yet he, still among our greatest filmmakers, doesn’t seem content to let The Palace‘s final shot close his story. (That will mean nothing if you’ve not seen the film; those who have understand fully.) Polanski recently met with Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Maciej Wróbel, who revealed that their conversation concerned “plans related to the production of a new film” that will shoot in the director’s native country. [Wiadomości Gazeta]

As Polanski tends to keep a low profile, we’ve no pre-existing details on what it might be, though this hint of advanced funding and logistics stages suggests word would arrive shortly. As for who agrees to star in it or what festival opts to premiere it––that should be...

The NBA has always been part of Hollywood. Not that they run it or anything, but it might as well be their favorite game. Over the years, basketball has embedded itself in many places, gaining a huge fan following and becoming a key actor in the world of entertainment. At this time and age, it’s not just about respect and scores but also about the spotlight and showboating, something Hollywood loves.

Whether it’s appearing in movie plots, celebrity interviews, or red carpet conversations, the NBA has found a permanent place in the heart of Hollywood. Many Hollywood actors are die-hard NBA fans. You can see some of them courtside more than some season ticket holders, and reacting to buzzer-beaters like their lives depend on it.

Some of these actors’ obsessions have even come on screen, writing, producing, or starring in basketball-related movies that genuinely show their love for the sport.

The jubilantly gory horror franchise returns with a hugely entertaining sixth installment which sets up an entire family tree for the slaughter

Final Destination, the giddy and splatterific franchise where the grim reaper finds increasingly cartoonish and comical ways to get back at those who think they’ve cheated death, has been sitting things out for more than a decade. Maybe that’s telling.

In the time since, we saw the rise of so-called “elevated horror”, a trend that arguably began with 2014’s The Babadook and enjoyed its biggest success with last fall’s Longlegs. Those earnestly artful films tend to shrug off the horror genre’s baser pleasures to instead mine drama, trauma and influences such as Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski and Nicolas Roeg. For those feeling a bit trauma-fatigued, I’m happy to say Final Destination is not only back but better than ever.

Woody Allen is without doubt a fine filmmaker, but his legacy has been tarnished by sexual abuse allegations against him. Some stars have rejected him entirely while others have stood by him. Sean Penn, who was directed by Allen in 1999's Sweet and Lowdown — which garnered Penn a Best Actor Oscar nomination — is one of the latter.

Mia Farrow has always maintained that Allen abused their adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, and Dylan has said this too. No criminal charges have ever been brought, however, and another adopted child, Moses, claims the abuse never happened. Allen has always denied the allegations, but things were always complicated by the fact that he married Farrow's adoptive daughter, Soon-Yi Preven. He's suggested in the past that Farrow made up the allegation as revenge for Allen becoming romantically involved with Soon-Yi.

Now, Penn shared how he believes the allegations may not be true. "I'd work with [Allen] in a heartbeat,...

One of the most salient shortcomings of Netflix as a streaming service is that its film library at any given moment is frustratingly devoid of movies made before 1980. In the streamer's defense, their focus since 2013 (when they hit binge-viewing paydirt with "House of Cards") has been on generating a raft of original programming in order to cut back their need to license classic television shows and films they do not own. Additionally, the success of streaming services like The Criterion Channel and Tubi, which cater to cinephiles with an array of pre-1980 movies, suggests that this market has already voted with its dollars. This is somewhat understandable, but it also does a huge disservice to young film fans who, for example, might fall so hard for Mike Flannagan's "The Haunting of Hill House" that they desperately need to see Robert Wise's much-lauded 1963 take on Shirley Jackson's horror novel.

One of the conventional elements used in horror films is the use of jump scares to elicit fear from the viewers. It was a very useful tool in creating tension and fear, making someone jump out of their seats in horror. However, as they were used more, it turned out that some horror films only managed to scare viewers using cheap jump scares.

The tool still works if used sparingly, but a good filmmaker sees that it isn’t the only way to scare his viewers. Some brilliant filmmakers have managed to give nightmares to their audience without using any such tools in their films. Here are ten such films that didn’t require a jump scare scene to keep you up at night.

10. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Roman Polanski‘s psychological horror film often finds its place among the scariest movies of all time. Manhattan newlyweds, Rosemary and Guy, start living in the Bramford,...

The 1960s were a decade when the movie industry made leaps and bounds in terms of storytelling, technology, and expansion beyond the American borders. This era came up with so many fantastic films that it was hard to pick the ten ultimate 60s movie classics from among them. In our quest to find the top ten, we are sure that we may have missed quite a few fan-favorites.

However, the movies in this list are not just great films from the 60s, but also some of the greatest in cinema history. The classics of legendary directors like Roman Polanski, Alfred Hitchcock, and Stanley Kubrick have made it to this list. This list also features some of the best in the genres like horror, Western, rom-com, and sci-fi.

10. Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)

Audrey Hepburn’s eccentric Manhattan socialite stole the show in this rom-com classic. Truman Capote’s 1958 novella translated amazingly into film format,...

Self-Portrait.“Maybe I should have a fall at the end of every film now!”I’m calling to check in with Jerry Schatzberg, who is fresh out of the hospital. Two days earlier, at the opening night of a Museum of Modern Art retrospective of his film career, he had shown his feature debut, Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970), released when he was 43 years old. As he climbed the short flight of stairs to the stage for a Q&a, Schatzberg, now 97, lost his balance and tumbled backward. The whole room screamed. Ushers, museum staff, and his assistants came instantly to his side. He did not move. After five silent minutes, everyone was asked to leave. When he was carted out of the MoMA on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance, the crowd that had lingered outside the theater cheered. He waved softly back. Over the phone, Jerry assures me he’s doing fine,...

Johnny Depp once quipped, "I've had about 17 comebacks, and I don’t understand it because I didn’t go anywhere." Well, Day Drinker now marks comeback No. 18.

The three-time Oscar nominee for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Finding Neverland, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street just began production in Spain on the Lionsgate thriller Day Drinker. The plot follows a cruise ship bartender (Madelyn Cline) who becomes embroiled in a criminal enterprise with the titular alcoholic passenger (Depp) and a well-known criminal (Penélope Cruz). The first look photo featuring Depp (above) was released today.

Day Drinker marks Depp's first Hollywood film role since the conclusion of his highly publicized defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard in 2022. Before that, the controversial actor was arrested for assault in Vancouver (1989), for hotel damages in New York City (1994), and for fighting with paparazzi in London...

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Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) was an excellent character on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Because he was the chief engineer on the USS Enterprise-d, Burton was given the bulk of the show's trademark technobabble, often talking about subspace manifolds, phase inducers, and the state of the structural integrity field. Technobabble was vital on the series, as it allowed viewers to envision how complicated a vehicle the Enterprise actually was, implying that its navigation required hundreds of people overseeing dozens and dozens of systems. Its complexity made the Enterprise feel more realistic, and, dare I say, plausible.

At the center of it, Geordi wasn't just a master of the Enterprise's engine systems, but he was a nerd about it. He loved machines and complicated technical systems, eager to use his ingenuity to solve complicated engineering problems. All of...

We’ve always loved setting trends at The Film Stage and are accordingly chuffed that, nine months after we screened a 35mm print at the Roxy, Roman Polanski’s late-career triumph The Ghost Writer comes to the Criterion Channel in next month’s Coastal Thrillers, a series that does what it says on the tin: The Lady from Shanghai, Key Largo, The Long Goodbye, The Fog, and the other best film of 2010, Scorsese’s Shutter Island. It pairs well with Noir and the Blacklist featuring films by Joseph Losey, Fritz Lang, Jules Dassin, and so on. Retrospectives are held for Terry Southern, Kathryn Bigelow, Jem Cohen, and (just in time for Caught By the Tides) Jia Zhangke, while Spike Lee gets his own Adventures In Moviegoing.

For recent restorations, Antonioni’s Il Grido and Anthony Harvey’s Dutchman appear. Criterion Editions include The Runner, Touchez pas au grisbi, Godzilla vs.

Throughout her esteemed career, Mia Farrow has earned seven Golden Globe nominations (including a win for 1964's Guns at Batasi) as well as three BAFTA bids. Yet notably she has never been recognized at the Emmys, Oscars, or Tonys. This year, she might finally add a major peer group bid to her résumé: a Tony nomination in Best Actress in a Play for The Roommate.

In 1964, Farrow burst onto the scene in a major way. She not only had her aforementioned Golden Globe win for Guns at Batasi, but also her role as Allison MacKenzie on the first two seasons of Peyton Place. The former didn't result in an Oscar nom and, despite getting in at the Globes for the latter, it didn't translate to an Emmy nod. In 1968, she starred as the title character in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby. Her performance resulted in Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.

The Academy Awards are an odd tradition. Every year, voters from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (becoming one of these voters is itself a somewhat mystified bureaucratic nightmare) nominate and award feature films in a number of categories.

Even ignoring the flaws in the process -- such as potential mis-categorization (see co-leads Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin breezing their way to Oscar wins by competing as "supporting actors") -- the prestige and preeminence of the Oscars gives way to a false air of objectivity regarding its honorees. It creates the illusion that winning films are inarguably the best, rather than the beneficiaries of the aggregation of the subjective opinions of a relatively small and unavoidably biased stable of Hollywood elites.

This is all to say, while the Academy Awards are a lot of fun, they are simply unable to honor every film that deserves an award. Below,...