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Emma Mackey and Jamie Lee Curtis star in director James L. Brooks’ comeback movie, titled Ella McCay. The film, with a recent trailer release, looks iconic, and the comedy is as good as it can get.

Following her fame from S*x Education and Death on the Nile, Emma Mackey takes the center stage in this comedy/drama movie about how even families can get too much sometimes.

Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis portrays the role of Aunt Helen and stands by Mackey’s side throughout the movie as a constant support platform with tons of comedy and equal amounts of serious family drama that intertwines.

Check out the trailer for Ella McCay below:

Alongside the star-studded lead actors, several Oscar-winning actors and nominees like Woody Harrelson, Albert Brooks, and Kumail Nanjiani also join the two in carrying the film forward with some iconic acting and their comedy skills.

Ella McCay Is James L.

20th Century Studios has unveiled the first official trailer for ‘Ella McCay,’ the latest film from legendary filmmaker James L. Brooks — the Oscar® and Emmy Award®-winning writer-director behind ‘Broadcast News,’ ‘Terms of Endearment,’ and ‘As Good As It Gets.’

Led by rising star Emma Mackey, the movie centres on an idealistic young woman caught in the whirlwind of political ambition, family chaos, and personal growth. As she navigates her rising career and a complicated personal life, Ella must learn what it truly means to serve — not just the public, but the people closest to her.

The trailer offers a vibrant, witty, and emotionally grounded first look at the film, teasing a smart and soulful comedy about love, legacy, and learning how to keep it all together.

Brooks assembles a stellar ensemble to bring the world of ‘Ella McCay’ to life, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri,...

El director de ‘Mejor… imposible’ firma su primer largometraje en quince años. © 20th Century Studios

Ya se ha desvelado el primer tráiler y póster de la película Ella McCay, escrita y dirigida por James L. Brooks, uno de los nombres más influyentes de la comedia dramática hollywoodense.

En Ella McCay, una joven política idealista hace malabarismos con sus problemas familiares y su difícil vida laboral mientras se prepara para ocupar el puesto de su mentor, el gobernador en funciones del estado desde hace años.

La película, una comedia sobre las personas que amas y cómo sobrevivir a ellas, reúne a un reparto de lujo que incluye a Emma Mackey (Barbie), Jamie Lee Curtis (La noche de Halloween), Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Kumail Nanjiani (La gran enfermedad del amor), Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), Spike Fearn (Alien: Romulus), Rebecca Hall (The Studio), Julie Kavner (Los Simpson), Becky Ann Baker (Jackpot!), Joey Brooks...

Emma Mackey and Jamie Lee Curtis are both actors who know a thing or two about navigating toxic families in their work. Mackey deals with a trauma-stricken, alcoholic mother as Sex Education's Maeve Wiley; Jlc is a trauma-stricken, alcoholic mother in Disney+ 'comedy' The Bear. And if the first trailer for James L. Brooks' upcoming Ella McCay — a comedy about a lawyer (Mackey) struggling to balance her personal and professional life — is anything to go by, then it looks like the filmmaker's first movie since How Do You Know? some 15 years ago will see the duo dealing with another effed-up family — albeit with space for a good few laughs along the way. Check it out below;

Marge Simpson on narration? Woody Harrelson as the estranged father of Mackey's McCay? Jlc and Mackey having a straight-up scream off as on-screen auntie and niece? Okay, count us in — this certainly looks to...

The new movie Ella McCay is being released in theaters over the holiday season and the first trailer has arrived!

Emma Mackey stars as the title character, an idealistic young woman who juggles her family and work life in a comedy about the people you love and how to survive them.

Also starring in the movie are Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Spike Fearn, Rebecca Hall, Julie Kavner, Becky Ann Baker, Joey Brooks, with Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson.

Watch the trailer below!

Ella McCay was written and directed by three-time Oscar winner James L. Brooks, best known for classic movies like Terms of Endearment and As Good As It Gets, plus TV shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Simpsons.

The movie hits theaters on December 12.

20th Century Studios has released the first trailer a for Ella McCay, written and directed by Oscar and Emmy winner James L. Brooks.

The film opens exclusively in theaters December 12, 2025. Emma Mackey stars as the titular character, an idealistic young woman who juggles her family and work life as a politician in a comedy about the people you love and how to survive them.

The clip opens with Julie Kavner’s character prefacing the story as its narrator.

“I’m here to provide facts about Ella McCay,” Kavner, who voices Marge in The Simpsons, says. “I’ve worked for her ever since she finished law school, so I’m not exactly neutral. I’m nuts about her.”

Cut to Mackey’s Ella stepping out of an escort car to talk to her aunt Helen, played by Jamie Lee Curtis,...

It's been 15 years since three-time Academy Award winner James L. Brooks directed a feature film, and now for the first time since 2010's How Do You Know, there's a new movie from the director of Terms of Endearment on the way.

The first trailer for Ella McCay, starring Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Woody Harrelson, has dropped, giving us our first look at the upcoming dramedy.

What's it about?

The film is centered around Ella (Mackey), who has just been elected governor but who is also still dealing with the family drama. In particular, there's her father (Harrelson), who has reentered her life with word of a new love in his life.

Who else is in it?

Backing Ella up is her aunt, played by Curtis. Also in the cast are Ayo Edebiri, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Hall (in what appears to be a relatively small role) and Broadcast News alum Albert Brooks.

In the fifteen interminably long years since James L. Brooks’ last directorial feature, the kind of adult-focused, warm dramas with recognizably emphatic characters that have defined his career have sadly fallen out of fashion. After staying busy helping emerging filmmakers like Kelly Fremon Craig realize their visions with the stellar The Edge of Seventeen and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the 85-year-old filmmaker is now making his overdue return this year.

Ella McCay, a political comedy-drama set for a December 12 release, stars Emma Mackey, Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Fearn, Ayo Edebiri, Jack Lowden, Rebecca Hall, Julie Kavner, Becky Ann Baker, Joey Brooks, Albert Brooks, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Ahead of the release, the first trailer has now arrived.

Watch below.

The post James L. Brooks Finally Returns with First Trailer for Ella McCay first appeared on The Film Stage.

Whoever coined the proverb, “You can pick your friends but not your family,” was onto something. There’s no end to the aggravation family can cause, and Emma Mackey‘s Ella McCay is about to discover how difficult it is to get ahead when people you left behind pop back into your life. James L. Brooks returns to the director’s chair after a 15-year hiatus, with today’s Ella McCay trailer highlighting his latest effort for the silver screen.

Ella McCay stars Sex Education and Barbie actress Emma Mackey as Ella, a woman who’s fought for everything she’s achieved throughout her emotionally turbulent life as a lawyer turned political figure. Jamie Lee Curtis plays Ella’s supportive aunt, while Woody Harrelson plays Ella’s estranged father, who pops back into her life at the most inopportune time. Rebecca Hall plays Ella’s late mother, with Jack Lowden,...

"Ella – your father, your brother, and your husband... are a ticking time bomb in your life." Ha ha. 20th Century has revealed the first official trailer for Ella McCay, a new comedy about family arriving to watch in theaters in December later this year. This is the first film directed by James L. Brooks since he made How Do You Know way back in 2010 (which we covered for its release!). In Ella McCay, Emma Mackey stars as an idealistic young woman who juggles her family and work life. In a comedy about the people you love and how to survive them. She's taking over the job of her mentor, the state's longtime incumbent governor, and starting a whole new life. The ensemble cast features Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Spike Fearn, Rebecca Hall, Julie Kavner, Joey Brooks, Becky Ann Baker, with Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson.

20th Century Studios has shared a first look at the new comedy Ella McCay, which is scheduled to open exclusively in theaters on December 12, 2025. The film has not yet been rated by the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

Ella McCay is written and directed by Oscar and Emmy Award winner James L. Brooks.

In the film, an idealistic young woman juggles her family and work life in a comedy about the people you love and how to survive them.

Ella McCay features an all-star cast including Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Spike Fearn, Rebecca Hall, Julie Kavner, Becky Ann Baker, and Joey Brooks, with Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson.

The film is produced by James L. Brooks, p.g.a., Richard Sakai, p.g.a., Julie Ansell, p.g.a., and Jennifer Brooks.

Principal photography for Ella McCay began in Rhode Island in February 2024, and...

James L. Brooks is finally back directing, exactly 15 years after his last film.

Brooks returns with “Ella McCay” after 2010’s “How Do You Know.” The Academy Award-winning writer/director helms the original film, which stars Emma Mackey as a lawyer spanning years of her life. Jamie Lee Curtis plays her supportive aunt, while Woody Harrelson is Ella’s (Mackey) wayward father, and Rebecca Hall is her late mother.

Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Spike Fearn, Julie Kavner, Becky Ann Baker, Joey Brooks, and Albert Brooks also star.

The logline for “Ella McCay” reads: “An idealistic young woman juggles her family and work life in a comedy about the people you love and how to survive them.” The film is also set in 2008.

Brooks told The Hollywood Reporter that he wanted “Ella McCay” to capture the excitement of politics in the early 2000s. “The film is set in 2008, before we had this enormous division,...

As first reported by Collider, Celine Song has been tapped to write the script for a sequel to My Best Friend’s Wedding, the iconic romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney.

The 1997 movie followed Julianne Potter (Roberts), a food critic who realizes she’s in love with her longtime best friend Michael after learning that he’s getting married. She sets out to sabotage the wedding, but as you might expect, her plans don’t quite go as planned. The film also starred Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett. It was a big success, grossing nearly $300 million worldwide, and is regarded as one of the best rom-coms of the ’90s.

Just days ago, Mulroney teased that “there is talk of a sequel” while promoting his new Netflix series The Hunting Wives. “I know nothing about it,” he said. “Last I heard, quote, lawyers were talking, unquote.“

Related Julia Roberts picks...

Will Smith‘s 2015 film Concussion was a biographical sports drama that centered around the study of neurodegenerative disease among NFL athletes. The film’s protagonist, Bennet Omalu, was a forensic pathologist with the Pennsylvania coroner’s office, who discovered evidence of severe neurotrauma in deceased football player Mike Webster.

Omalu called it chronic traumatic encephalopathy (Cte). The film portrays how Omalu struggled to bring more attention to this issue among the NFL players and the challenges he had to go through. Smith played Omalu in the film, which also featured a cast including Alec Baldwin, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Arliss Howard, Paul Reiser, Luke Wilson, David Morse, and Albert Brooks.

Hollywood filmmakers were after the story to make it into a film. The most prominent filmmaker who pursued the story was Alien and Gladiator director Ridley Scott. At one point, Scott was all set to direct the film. Later, Peter Landesman entered...

Nearly four months after The Simpsons was renewed for four additional seasons and three months since the animated show last aired, Fox has announced when fans can expect the legendary family back on small screens. The most recent season of The Simpsons, Season 36, was broadcast from September 29, 2024, to May 18, 2025; however, before the finale, the sitcom was renewed through Season 40, with each installment comprising 15 episodes.

As part of this fall's schedule for Fox’s Animation Domination, The Simpsons will return with Season 37 on Sunday, September 28 at 8:00 p.m., according to TV Insider. Additionally, featured in the new season is an all-star guest list led by Succession’s Kieran Culkin, as announced during the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday, July 26. The network’s animated programming block will also see Universal Basic GuysSeason 2 air at 8:30 p.m. after The Simpsons. Krapopolis Season 3 and Bob’s Burgers Season 16 then follow at 9:00 p.

The Simpsons, television’s longest-running scripted series and an 85% fresh mainstay on Rotten Tomatoes, is gearing up for its 37th installment with a star-studded guest list, headlined by Succession Emmy nominee Kieran Culkin.

Per Variety, this was announced during the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel on July 26. Culkin is reportedly joining a guest lineup that also includes Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Albert Brooks, Cole Escola (Oh Mary), Danny Pudi (Community), Adam Pally, and both Brendan andDomhnall Gleeson, appearing together on the show for the first time. The series is also set to air its 800th episode in February 2026, featuring two original episodes airing back-to-back. “It’s a big deal to do 800 shows,” said executive producer Matt Selman, promising something “top secret” but “the best 800th episode of anything you’ve ever seen.”

That’s not all though — there was one early preview shared during the panel as well.

The Simpsons Season 37 will kick off in fall 2025 — and some of its guest stars were recently unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con. On Saturday, July 26, creator Matt Groening, executive producers Mike Price and Matt Selman, director Matt Faughnan, and consulting producer/director David Silverman took the stage for the show’s panel. For Season 37, The Simpsons guest stars will include Kieran Culkin, Glenn Howerton, Albert Brooks and Cole Escola, per Variety. Also gracing Springfield with their presence will be Danny Pudi, Adam Pally, and Brendan and Domhnall Gleeson. The Comic-Con panel included a preview of this season’s “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween episode too. This time around, it will feature the voice talents of Michael Keaton, Viola Davis and Idris Elba, in addition to an opening from Stan Kelly as a guest animator. “I honestly thought 36 was where we were going to end it,” Groening quipped at the event. “No, there’s no end in sight.

Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis opened up about her considerations of retirement and Hollywood’s aging problem in relation to her parents, icons of the industry Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis.

In an extensive interview with The Guardian tied to the upcoming Aug. 8 release of Disney’s Freakier Friday, the Halloween actress slammed the entertainment world’s treatment of older actors, particularly women.

“I witnessed my parents lose the very thing that gave them their fame and their life and their livelihood, when the industry rejected them at a certain age,” she explained. “I watched them reach incredible success and then have it slowly erode to where it was gone. And that’s very painful.”

Because of this, Curtis added, “I have been self-retiring for 30 years. I have been prepping to get out, so that I don’t have to suffer the same as my family did. I want to...

ScreenRant's Zachary Brandon attended The Simpsons panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, where the long-running animated series teased a star-filled episode in its upcoming season 37 while also taking a dig at Marvel. The panelists all entered Ballroom 20 dressed as Doctor Doom, in cheeky reference to last year's Marvel panel, which revealed Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the MCU as the villain.

During the panel, The Simpsons writer Matt Selman teased one episode will have cameos from Glenn Howerton, Danny Pudi, Adam Pally, Albert Brooks, Cole Escola, Brendan and Domhnall Gleeson at the same time. Another episode will feature Kieran Culkin in a "juicy role."

You can see the moment the panelists entered the room dressed as Doctor Doom below:

#TheSimpsons panel moderator says they never bow to the corporate overlords, and The Simpsons creators walk to the stage in #DoctorDoom costumes at San Diego Comic-Con. #SDCCpic.twitter.com/1ZePwEVj...

When fans think of Bob Odenkirk nowadays, the first thing, or character, rather, that comes to mind is likely the shady lawyer Saul Goodman. The actor first stepped into the shoes and flashy suits of the defense lawyer and professional con artist in Season 2 of Breaking Bad and never looked back, evolving into something much more than just the comedic relief character and constant confidant of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). The man whose real name is Jimmy McGill would eventually get his own television series in Better Call Saul, exploring the many layers of the character and his eventual downfall in a show that arguably rivaled its already legendary predecessor. Despite his powerhouse performance, however, Odenkirk never saw himself as an actor.

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, Odenkirk sat down with Steve Weintraub for Collider's Inside Hollywood panel, where he reflected on his career...

Kieran Culkin (“Succession”), Glenn Howerton (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), Albert Brooks and Cole Escola (“Oh Mary”) are among the guest stars stopping by Springfield during the upcoming Season 37 of “The Simpsons,” the show’s producers announced Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con.

Also on board: Danny Pudi (“Community”), Adam Pally, and Brendan and Domhnall Gleeson, together at last!

Also during the panel, “Simpsons” producers shared a sneak preview of one of this year’s “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween segments. Idris Elba, Michael Keaton and Viola Davis will be guest starring on that episode, which will feature an opening from guest animator Stan Kelly (from The Onion).

Among those on stage: creator Matt Groening, executive producers Matt Selman and Mike Price, director Matt Faughnan and consulting producer/director David Silverman.

“I honestly thought 36 was where we were going to end it,” Groening joked. “No, there’s no end in sight. We’re going to keep going.

Comedian Bill Murray coulda, shoulda, woulda had the most storied career in Hollywood history, if only he’d taken half of the many movie roles he was allegedly offered. If you believe it, many of our biggest stars wouldn’t have had careers if not for Murray’s leftovers, as The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray suggests that a number of the most successful films of the past 50 years almost starred Murray.

Here are 12 of the could-have-been chapters in Murray’s career…

1 Batman

Um, what now? Murray was supposedly considered to play Tim Burton’s version of the Dark Knight, alongside Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner and Pierce Brosnan. Michael Keaton got the job after earning his stripes as the lead in Ron Howard’s Gung Ho — after Murray turned it down, of course.

2 Forrest Gump

Not only did Murray allegedly turn down the role of Gump, Chevy Chase and...

These days, This Is Spinal Tap is widely considered to be a genuine comedy classic, hence why we’re getting a belated sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, later this year. Not to mention the fact that it’s the rare mockumentary to get its very own pinball game.

But when it first hit theaters back in 1984, the movie wasn’t exactly a hit. Although critically-acclaimed, This Is Spinal Tap, which cost $2 million to make, earned less than $5 million at the box office. To put that in perspective, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo made $6.7 million that same year.

In a new interview with the AARP, director Rob Reiner explained that part of the problem was that hardly anyone in 1984 grasped the basic concept of the movie. “People thought it was a real documentary,” Reiner explained. “We were making fun of rock stars and documentaries. People didn’t understand it. We...

We tend to think that the movies of the 1980s are constantly mined for franchises. Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Rambo, Terminator -- so many iconic cinematic characters and brands that continue to this day originated in the Reagan era. For every great movie that got a sequel, though, many more didn't, even though they were wonderfully entertaining, and in many cases, they left plenty of room for more. 

It's likely you've heard of some of the entries on this list, and a handful of them did well enough at the box office to justify more but never got it together. Others were adapting material that already had further installments, but they just couldn't make enough at the box office to justify the rest. Decades later, some still await sequels supposedly in development, and even if others on this list were not originally wellreceived, they have been re-appraised over time and...

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we sometimes talk about movie stars! We sometimes talk about movie directors! Today, we talk about both! Specifically, the B-Sides of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

It’s just Conor and I today folks, waxing poetic on Tom Cruise’s legendary franchise and the B-Sides that we were inspired to discuss. We’ve chosen one for each of the Mission movies. It’s also July 3rd on the day this episode is published, so happy 63rd birthday Tom Cruise!

For the first Mission: Impossible, we speak on The Avengers from 1998. An adaptation of the popular British television series from the ‘60s, director Jeremiah S. Chechik’s film was dismantled in post-production, slashed to ribbons following bad test screenings. The final product runs well under ninety minutes and is hard to understand. It sits on the other end of blockbusters in the ‘90s adapted from hit televisions from yesteryear.

There exists a generation of late-night TV fans who argue things haven't been the same since Johnny Carson signed off. For them, good news is on the way.

Carson ended his tenure as host of The Tonight Show in 1992. It ended 30 years at the desk for the King of Late-Night. Following his retirement, Carson largely stayed out of the spotlight, save for sending in some jokes to David Letterman.

Now, Carson is returning to television thanks to streaming. Fifty episodes of The Tonight Show hosted by Carson, not seen in decades, are coming to Shout! TV. The streaming service operates Johnny Carson TV, a free ad-supported streaming channel dedicated to the late-night TV icon.

Per Vulture, the episodes will go live on Shout! beginning July 5. It brings the total number of Carson Tonight Show episodes available on the service to just over 470. Viewers can access the Carson archive through the Shout!

Unless you've been on an arctic expedition during all of 2025 or in a coma, you are no doubt aware that "Saturday Night Live" has celebrated its 50th anniversary. As part of the celebration, the comedy institution produced a series of documentaries, held a massive homecoming concert at Radio City Music Hall, and aired a live primetime special on NBC.

That this momentous event occasioned a spate of critical writing from just about every outlet worth its weight in clicks was hardly surprising. "SNL" has been a reliable generator of takes from tepid to scorching since it premiered on October 11, 1975. It has been accused of being too political or not political enough, too liberal or too conservative, and, worst of all, unfunny. At several junctures, critics have called for it to be cancelled (and it very nearly was after the disastrous season 11), while there have been stretches of time where it...

Disney leaned into 100 years of brand heritage at its CineEurope slate presentation on Wednesday afternoon (June 18), with an array of titles that offer “magic, wonder and joy,” in the words of Andrew Cripps, head of theatrical distribution.

The distribution boss also placed the presentation in the context of “immersive experiences” that “bring imagination to life”.

With new titles from all seven Disney brands – Disney, Pixar, Walt Disney Studios Animation, Marvel, 20th Century Studios, Lucasfilm and Searchlight Pictures – the studio offers a slate with a “regular 12-month cadence”, and films that play “exclusively on the big screen, longer than any of...

Star Trek fans surely got a kick out of seeing Star Trek III: The Search for Spock villain Christopher Lloyd co-starring as Doc Brown alongside Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in Back to the Future. And those same fans no doubt loved it when Marty, disguised and masking his voice, identifies himself to his future father as “Darth Vader… from the planet Vulcan,” and proceeds to offer the patented split-fingered Vulcan greeting.

But… a document from 1984, from the office of Back to the Future’s casting directors, Fenton-Feinberg Casting, reveals that several other familiar Star Trek names were considered before director Robert Zemeckis chose Lloyd. Among those considered: Joe Piscopo, Rene Auberjonois, Paul Dooley, Kevin Conway, and Gerrit Graham. Piscopo later played The Comic in the Star Trek: The Next Generation second-season episode, “The Outrageous Okona,” which premiered in 1988. Auberjonois joined the Star Trek universe in 1991, playing Colonel West...

Success can be a double-edged sword. While every filmmaker would like their first movie to be a breakout success, those kinds of hits build expectation for their second feature, and not every director can navigate the artistic and industrial labyrinth that it takes to produce another instant classic.

Indeed, the perfect one-two punch is rarely achieved. Many of the best directors don’t start out with one of their finest or most successful films, those that do can’t always parlay that into a second success.

But some filmmakers have managed to immediately capitalize on all that good will, directing a second great movie after their debut wins the hearts of critics and/or audiences. With “Past Lives” filmmaker Celine Song’s second film “Materialists” now in theaters, we’re pretty danged sure these are the best.

Nicolas Cage and Nicolas Cage in ‘Adaptation’ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Adaptation.

Spike Jonze’s sophomore feature,...

Plot: A professional matchmaker (Dakota Johnson) finds herself at odds with her own materialism when, while dating a rich, handsome man (Pedro Pascal), her ex (Chris Evans) re-enters her life.

Review: A24 have been – perhaps mistakenly – trying to market Celine Song’s Materialists as a throwback romantic comedy. What they haven’t revealed is that despite the glitzy style that might initially strike some as vacant or shallow, the film is a much more layered look at modern dating, and the values that often keep us from connecting.

Regardless of whether we like to admit it or not (even to ourselves), everyone walks around with a mental checklist of attributes they want a potential partner to have. We’ve seen many movies about this from a male perspective to the point that people regularly slam it as “sexist” nowadays. But when we’ve seen it from a female perspective, which has been often as well,...

Before everyone started talking about glitches in the Matrix to describe spooky goings-on, anything weird or potentially inexplicable was like entering "The Twilight Zone." Some old timers still use this comparison, possibly humming an annoying rendition of the theme tune for extra effect. You can't blame them, really, because few TV shows have created a cultural footprint the size of Rod Serling's visionary series. Three revivals, a patchy anthology film, and a range of other media have kept the show firmly in the public consciousness, but none have quite matched the quality of the original hosted by Serling himself. With Serling's assured presence and teleplays from some of the best writers of sci-fi and speculative fiction of the day, "The Twilight Zone" was packed with iconic episodes. 

"Twilight Zone: The Movie" opened with two guys (played by Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks) chatting about their favorite episodes, and they...

Milton Berle’s testimonial at a November 1958 Friars’ Club roast of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz was full of racially charged one-liners that wouldn’t fly today. But those jokes weren’t the most offensive part of the routine, at least to Ball and Arnaz, who took the brunt of some intensely personal punchlines.

Berle’s performance is largely forgotten, mostly because of another occurrence at the Roast — the death of comedian Harry Einstein, more famously known as radio comic Parkyakarkus and the father of Albert Brooks and Bob “Super Dave” Einstein. After he finished his hilarious tribute to the couple, he walked back to his seat and collapsed in Berle’s arms after a massive heart attack.

But before the dramatic events that ended the evening, Berle delivered some gags that landed a little too close to home, according to the new biography, Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television.

Throughout its century-old legacy, Disney has for sure produced some of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the history of motion pictures.

Back in 2003, Pixar released Finding Nemo, which changed the definition of emotional pain the animated movies forever. Now, more than 22 years later, Disney is yet to recreate the same magic that can topple one of the most – if not the most – heartbreaking scenes of the franchise.

While Finding Nemo became a quintessential specimen of Pixar’s marvellous artistry, it also made its name for making the viewers reach for the tissues early in the film.

Finding Nemo’s abduction scene still tops the most heartbreaking scene in Disney history

When Finding Nemo came out in 2003, the film made waves because of its realistic personification of the aquatic animals, including the adorable clownfish family. While Disney was no stranger to attributing human emotions to inanimate objects or animals, the Mouse...

One cinematic medium that has continued far-reaching appeal spanning age groups and cultures is animated movies. Animation consistently performs well worldwide, often buoyed by its family-friendly sense of humor, universal messaging, and visually impressive art design. In addition to being a hit with critics, animated films regularly find themselves as the highest-earning movies of a given year, particularly when produced and marketed by larger studios. This has led to lucrative box office runs, sometimes breaking records set by their live-action counterparts.

Many of the highest-grossing films of all time are animated, and many of these major earners were released within the past decade, at least in nominal earnings. With that in mind, we've assembled over a dozen of the highest-earning animated films to date. To clarify, this list includes earners without adjusting for inflation and drawing from cumulative global box office grosses.

Here are the 15 highest-grossing animated movies of all time,...

Sisu 2 and Ella McKay are both with us in 2025, with a new The Thomas Crown Affair due in 2027. More here.

No matter what your preferred genre might be, there’s likely to be something in this new crop of newly announced release dates to interest you.

Firstly, Screen Gems is releasing the sequel to Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander’s violent World War II action thriller, Sisu. The first film saw an ex-commando getting rather irked when Nazis stole his gold and some thrillingly-shot revenge ensued.

Jorma Tommila returns in the lead role and the sequel is getting a 21st November theatrical release date in the US and hopefully here in the UK as well. If you haven’t caught the first film yet, click here to get a taste of the movie via its (rather violent) trailer.

If grisly thrills aren’t quite your cup of tea, then what about...

Disney pushed the opening of “Elio,” the studio’s upcoming Pixar film, by a week, while unveiling the release dates of Sam Raimi’s “Send Help” and James L. Brooks’ “Ella McCay.”

“Ella McCay,” which marks Brooks’ return to the director’s chair after 2010’s “How Do You Know,” has been bumped to a Dec. 12 release date. It had initially been slated for a Sep. 19 bow. Both dates come on different ends of the fall festival season and could signal an awards season push.

Brooks, an Oscar-winner who made classics like “As Good as it Gets,” “Broadcast News” and “Terms of Endearment,” also wrote the script for the comedy. It stars Emma Mackey as the title character, with an ensemble that includes Woody Harrelson, Ayo Edebiri, Kumail Nanjiani, Jack Lowden, Rebecca Hall, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Albert Brooks. The film is about a young politician who becomes governor and her...

Seth Rogen has mainly been known as that pot-smokin' fella with a peculiar laugh, despite his immense talent and hard work (and impressive efforts for Alzheimer's awareness). His public perception is beginning to change a bit, though, ever since his Apple TV+ series The Studio was released to massive acclaim. In fact, Rogen is being accepted as an all-out auteur, thanks to the brilliance of that show and its deep knowledge of cinema. Perhaps that's why he and Goldberg were invited into the Criterion Closet, the small, coveted room lined wall-to-wall with perfect films.

If you're not a cinephile, The Criterion Collection is a home media distribution company that is massively respected among film fans for its reverent restorations and celebration of the greatest movies ever made. Along with a remastering, each release comes with beautiful art, a booklet of writing, and a treasure trove of special features, with the...

Monument Releasing has acquired Eugene Kotlyarenko’s “The Code,” and is planning a theatrical release in the English-speaking world. The film premiered at the Fantasia Intl. Film Festival in Montreal and has gone on to have a strong festival run.

“The Code” will be opening at the Roxy Cinema in New York on April 23, and will be followed by a theatrical run at the Lumiere Cinema May 9 in Los Angeles. Key additional cities include Miami, Montreal, Toronto and San Francisco, with more to be added.

“The Code” is an absurd, high-concept comedy, following a sexless couple, paranoid about the status of their relationship, who embrace surveillance, spying and performance as a means to fall in love again.

The film stars Dasha Nekrasova, Peter Vack, Ivy Wolk (“Anora”) and Vish Velandy (“Wobble Palace”).

It was produced by Spacemaker Productions and lensed by Bart Cortright.

Kotlyarenko’s debut features, “0s & 1s” and “Skydiver,...

Two of the stars of the upcoming 20th Century Studios film Ella McCay, Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis and title star Emma Mackey, turned up at CinemaCon to honor their legendary director James L. Brooks with a Cinema Verité trophy and introduce the first ever look at the comedy.

The first order of business upon taking to the Colosseum stage inside Caesars Palace was to detail the plot of the film and who they play in the story. Set for release from 20th Century Studios on Sept. 19, the comedy, written and directed by Brooks, follows the complicated politics that arise when a young woman’s stressful career clashes with a chaotic family life. It stars Mackey in the title role opposite a cast that includes Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Fearn, Ayo Edebiri, Rebecca Hall, Julie Kavner, Jack Lowden, Becky Ann Baker, Joey Brooks with Albert Brooks.

Curtis praised...

Walt Disney Studios is taking over the main stage at CinemaCon 2025, and things are getting freaky! The highly anticipated panel included a presentation for Freakier Friday, the sequel to Disney’s 2003 comedy smash starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis! Before CinemaCon, Disney unveiled an adorable teaser trailer for the upcoming bodyswap tale, and now the con crowd is learning more details.

Lohan and Curtis took the CinemaCon stage to introduce the film. They explained that instead of switching bodies with each other, their characters exchange places with Lohan’s kids, so Curtis gets to act like a teenager again. Chad Michael Murray returns, and the preview includes a funny scene of Lindsay aggressively flirting with him. Murray is actually into Curtis, which could cause some delicious drama among the group. Freakier Friday looks like a crowd-pleaser, and we’re excited to see more when the movie comes to theaters...

It’s Sunday in New Orleans, and James L. Brooks has manners on the mind. The 84-year-old, who has maxed out his multihyphenate talents over the course of a legendary career that’s still firing on all cylinders six decades later, is in the Big Easy for reshoots on Ella McCay, the 20th Century Studios comedy that marks his return to the director’s chair after 15 years, and he’s thinking about how people respond to him in public.

“The thing about New Orleans is that when you make eye contact with somebody, that person is going to smile at you and say something pleasant,” he says with a grin of his own over Zoom. “That’s how the manners are here, and it’s amazing to be around. I’m going to try and make that happen in Los Angeles when I go home. I’ll let you know how the experiment works out.

The core cast of "The Simpsons" includes Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith (who gets the best episodes), Julie Kavner, Hank Azaria, Maggie Roswell, Pamela Hayden, Russi Taylor, and Harry Shearer. Marcia Wallace was also part of the cast until her death in 2013, playing Bart Simpson's cantankerous teacher Mrs. Krabappel. Albert Brooks frequently guest-starred in the show's early years. There was some controversy in recent years about how several Black characters on "The Simpsons" were played by white actors, so Kevin Michael Richardson now plays Dr. Hibbert (previously voiced by Shearer), and Alex Désert now plays Carl (previously voiced by Azaria). 

Each member of the core cast, however, plays multiple roles throughout "The Simpsons," including single lines from background characters. Yes, this list will include every single role that "Simpsons" actors play, no matter how small. The numbers are culled from various sourced, mostly fan-run wikis, and analyzed through...

Kogonada’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey got a big and bold debut in Las Vegas on Monday.

Sony used its CinemaCon presentation to bring out the filmmaker, who introduced exclusive footage from the upcoming film starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell from studio label Columbia Pictures.

Kogonada said he was inspired to make the movie “because it’s the kind of film that I would want to watch in a packed theater.” He used a string of adjectives to describe it, including “original,” “surprising,” “romantic,” “and, I hope, moving.” He revealed a few more specifics by saying that he considers it a film about two people reckoning with their pasts to find love in the present. Kogonada also praised his Oscar nominated actors as “two extraordinary stars at the peak of their craft.” He added: “They light up the screen together.”

The emotionally resonate trailer showed the pair of...

James L. Brooks is heading to Las Vegas.

The veteran creative, who has maxed out his multihyphenate talents during a career that spans six decades, will be adding another honor to his long list of accolades when CinemaCon presents him with a Cinema Vérité trophy for his big-screen accomplishments.

The special honor will be presented during the Walt Disney Studios presentation inside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on April 3. It comes ahead of the release of his newest film, Ella McCay, set for release from 20th Century Studios on Sept. 19. Written and directed by Brooks, the comedy follows the complicated politics that arise when a young woman’s stressful career clashes with a chaotic family life.

It stars Emma Mackey in the title role opposite a cast that includes Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Fearn, Ayo Edebiri, Rebecca Hall, Julie Kavner, Jack Lowden, Becky Ann Baker, Joey Brooks with Albert Brooks and Jamie Lee Curtis.

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This April, Tubi is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the thrilling crime action film Play Dirty to the beloved animated series The Looney Tunes Show. However, for this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Tubi in the next month and have an 80% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the thirteen best movies coming to Tubi in April 2025 with an 80% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Kill Bill: Volumes 1 & 2 (April 1) Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 85% & 84% Credit – Miramax Films

Kill Bill is a two-part martial arts action film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The 2003 and 2004 films follow an assassin known as the Bride who wakes up from a coma and swears revenge against the people who tried to kill her and her unborn child. Kill Bill stars Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox,...

"The Simpsons" debuted shortly before Christmas in 1989, which means anyone under the age of 35 has never known a world without it. "The Simpsons" wasn't just a hit, but a cultural fulcrum point. Matt Groening's cynical worldview, filtered through an animated takedown of traditional American sitcoms, came to define the prevailing attitudes of the nation in the 1990s. We were over-educated, embittered by the excesses of the Reagan years, and ready to see television mutate into something punky and deconstructionist. "The Simpsons" was at the heart of that. 

And then, even as the 1990s ended, "The Simpsons" never dipped in quality, turning out a full decade of invaluable TV comedy. While public attitudes shifted in the early 2000s ("shock" humor and post-9/11 despair came to define the era), "The Simpsons" persisted. The makers of the show found they could simply keep on working for as long as audiences were interested.

Fans have fallen in love with Oscar Isaac in blockbuster franchises like Star Wars and Dune, but the versatile actor turned in one of his best performances in an underrated A24 gangster film from 2014. In A Most Violent Year, the leading man plays an ambitious immigrant who clings to his moral compass while breaking into a mob-infested industry. This dark, harrowing drama is a hidden gem of the gangster genre — and there could be sequels in the future.

J.C. Chandor's name may be familiar to MCU fans for his recent Kraven the Hunter movie, but he previously made award-winning dramas like A Most Violent Year. This gangster film is a masterpiece of simmering tension and moral turmoil that foregoes gory gunfights in favor of blistering suspense and intrigue. If rumors from Oscar Isaac's costar Jessica Chastain prove true, the story may expand into a trilogy.

This Gritty Gangster Drama...

The Log Lady was a beloved part of “Twin Peaks.” But Catherine Coulson was much more than that. She was a fan favorite who made time to speak with series enthusiasts and helped perpetuate its lore, as well as a longtime actor with Ashland’s Oregon Shakespeare Festival and a camera assistant who pulled focus for David Lynch, John Cassavetes and Albert Brooks.

Coulson made “everyone who was close to her feel like they were her best friend,” says Richard Green, director of “I Know Catherine, The Log Lady,” a feature-length documentary that screens at Ojai’s Playhouse Theatre Saturday with a Q&a from “Twin Peaks” co-creator Mark Frost.

Several of those friends were involved in making the doc, which ends with the dramatic story of the last few days of Coulson’s life, as Lynch and company raced against her rapidly progressing lung cancer to include her in...

Things get freaky for Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis in Disney‘s teaser trailer for Freakier Friday, the long-anticipated sequel to the acting duo’s 2003 comedy smash. The upcoming cinematic romp brings the bodyswap mechanic back with style as the switcharoo magic extends to other members of the Coleman family. In addition to the Freakier Friday teaser trailer, Disney dropped a new poster for the film featuring Lohan and Curtis in panic as chaos returns to haunt their best-laid plans.

In Freakier Friday, Lohan’s Anna has a daughter and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. They, too, get caught up in the switcharoo shenanigans, doubling the confusion and consequences of tampering with unknown forces.

The film also stars Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Rosalind Chao, Chad Michael Murray, Vanessa Bayer, and Mark Harmon.

Nisha Ganatra directs Freakier Friday, based on the book Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers. Freakier Friday...