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Welcome to Reality Derby, our weekly deep dive into all things reality TV, hosted by Gold Derby senior editors Marcus James Dixon and Denton Davidson.

Joining us this week is boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, who was eliminated after performing as Fuzzy Peas on this week’s episode of The Masked Singer on Fox. (Our interview begins at the 0:58 mark in the video above.) De La Hoya tells us about his appearance on the singing competition, being nominated for a Grammy in 2001, and his greatest career achievement.

“I’m up against some tough characters,” De La Hoya says of Ant, Coral, and Paparazzo. “These guys can belt! These guys can sing. It was surprising actually, to me, because you think you’re doing well, you’re singing good — but I have to tell you one thing — the other characters are like true professionals. This season’s gonna be amazing.

Martin Scorsese's 1990 crime masterpiece "Goodfellas" is one of the finest gangster movies ever made and has the award shelf to prove it. Still, despite its impressive six Academy Award nominations, the most esteemed awards of the industry largely avoided the mob epic -- except for one particular golden statuette.

Joe Pesci held the fort at the 1991 Academy Awards ceremony with his Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar win for his amazing turn as the volatile Tommy DeVito, the wildest card in a movie full of wild cards. He became an Oscar-winning actor with his signature cool intact. However, unlike his character -- who, as his iconic "I'm funny how?" scene shows, is extremely verbose at most times -- the actor chose to keep his speech short and sweet, uttering only five words as he took the stage to receive the golden statuette. "It's my privilege. Thank you," Pesci said before exiting the stage.

In 1969 the master of the American western, Sam Peckinpah, directed a stellar cast in The Wild Bunch, a controversial film that breathed new life into the genre and broke ground in the realistic portrayal of screen violence. Receiving two Academy Award nominations, this bitter, brutal story of magnificent losers in a dying West remains one of the screen’s all-time classics. An explosive adventure drama about the last of the legendary lawless breed who lived to kill – and killed to live. The cast included William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien. Warren Oates and Ben Johnson.

Now comes a bunch of a different kind. the Thunderbolts* – an unconventional team of antiheroes – Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker. The cast features Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and also includes newcomers to the MCU – Lewis Pullman...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the acting champ when it comes to Academy Awards.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins finished second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine (1942), and Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the champ of all actors.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins ranked second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). Just above that film performance in the rankings are George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine...

The end of the year draws near, which means it’s time for the annual ritual of celebrating how far we’ve come and sharing good tidings for the future—all while battling the fear that we’re too inadequate to make a mark with our ruthlessly linear life. The...

On Dec. 25, 1950, Columbia unveiled the George Cukor-directed adaptation of Born Yesterday at its Los Angeles premiere. The film went on to nab five nominations at the 23rd Academy Awards, including for best picture, and won best actress for Judy Holliday’s turn as Billie Dawn. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:

Born Yesterday comes to the screen as the bright, infectious and delightful entertainment that it was when the play first took Broadway by storm several years ago. And for this feat of transforming what has become a stock and road show wheelhorse into 104 minutes of rollicking celluloid fun, the impresarios of Gower Street can begin drinking champagne from the dainty slipper of Judy Holliday. She’s only wonderful and without her triumphant performance of Billie Dawn, the honey-haired chorus girl who topples the power of a money-mad tycoon, Born Yesterday would be dead tomorrow.

In its...

Throughout the 1970s, audiences couldn’t get enough of disaster movies. The decade began with the all-star blockbuster bomb-on-a-plane thrill ride Airport, based on Arthur Hailey’s best-seller. Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Maureen Stapleton, Van Heflin, Jean Seberg, and Jacqueline Bisset headlined Airport, which became the second-biggest box-office hit of the year and earned nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and winning Best Supporting Actress for Hayes. Airport also established the template for subsequent movies: trapping all-star casts on a plane, a ship, or a high-rise.

SEEFred Astaire movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best

Producer-director-writer Irwin Allen took disaster movies to the next level — so much so he was dubbed “The Master of Disaster.” Allen, who enjoyed great success on the small screen in the 1960s with the series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Lost in Space, brought his disaster savvy to the...

Earl Holliman, the actor best known for playing Angie Dickinson’s boss on the 1970s NBC cop drama Police Woman, has died. He was 96.

Holliman died Monday in hospice care at his home in Studio City, his spouse, Craig Curtis, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Holliman won a best supporting actor Golden Globe for portraying Katharine Hepburn’s girl-crazy kid brother in The Rainmaker (1956) — he beat out Elvis Presley for the role — and then appeared in another Burt Lancaster film, as Wyatt Earp’s assistant in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957).

In the George Stevens epic Giant (1956), the Louisiana native played the son-in-law of Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson’s characters, was the cook in Forbidden Planet (1956) and appeared as the brother of John Wayne, Dean Martin and Michael Anderson Jr. in Henry Hathaway’s The Sons of Katie Elder (1965).

Holliman also portrayed a man with amnesia in a deserted town...

“You know what’s going on from the news, but information in America is driven by money. It’s a business,” Alec Baldwin begins at the Turin Film Festival, where he is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“That’s why there’s a void in information on the biggest issues in the world. Americans know little or nothing — on climate change, on Ukraine. That void is filled in part by the film industry, by documentaries and narrative films.”

Baldwin, star of the recently premiered Rust and guest of the Tff, does not mention Donald Trump, but he is critical about the situation in his country.

Asked by The Hollywood Reporter about his concerns and hopes after the Trump administration takes office, Baldwin darts around the T-word with a generalized answer on Monday.

“There are many challenges to face,” he says. “The environment, the problem of plastic, of permafrost:...

Dustin Pittman with Anne-Katrin Titze and Ed Bahlman holding up New York After Dark

In the first instalment of our conversation with photographer extraordinaire, Dustin Pittman, and music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman, we start out with Gloria Swanson at her apartment (star of Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard opposite William Holden), the early days with Danny Fields, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Mick Jagger (at Madison Square Garden), Patricia Field, Sex And The City, Susan Seidelman, Halston and the Halstonettes, Diana Vreeland, Liza Minnelli and US First Lady Betty Ford at Studio 54, the Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren connection to Mariann Marlowe and Frankie Savage’s Ian’s, staying with The Pretenders in London, Lucy Sante and her books, the shop 99, Max’s Kansas City, Ungaro’s, Régine’s, The Odeon, Lutèce or La Grenouille, and Dustin Pittman: New York...

Welcome to the dark side of the American dream.

The best film noir movies of all time are visions of a universally known truth not always spoken out loud: It can be really hard to live in America, and if you don’t have money, you have nothing. If Westerns are about “manifest destiny,” film noir is about what comes after. If you do finally get the swimming pool, you might end up face-down dead in it, like poor William Holden’s struggling screenwriter in “Sunset Boulevard.” Or you may have entered a miserable marriage to get your gilded palace. In film noir, you might have that gilded palace all to yourself if you’re willing to murder for it. Take a look at “Double Indemnity.” This genre is all about recognizing that some success in America might not be attainable through legal means, and so working outside the law becomes a tantalizing temptation,...

Damien Thorn is the Antichrist, and the trilogy that tells his unholy tale remains popular almost fifty years later. Indeed, while putting together this movie ranked list and revisiting the original Omen franchise, we were surprised at how well the old movies held up. Omen fans will be happy that the series has been restarted in a pretty interesting way earlier this year, with The First Omen a surprisingly excellent prequel to the original trilogy (check out our interviews with the director and cast here), even if it takes one large liberty involving Damien’s birth that some fans may have an issue with. So, how do the Omen films rank against each other? Let’s take a look, but remember that the TV series Damien (which lasted for one season in 2016) is not included, as we’re sticking with feature films.

The Omen (2006)

There’s honestly no reason for this movie to exist.

Nicholas Pryor, the busy character actor who portrayed Tom Cruise’s father in Risky Business and Kathleen Robertson’s dad on Beverly Hills, 90210 during a career that spanned seven decades, has died. He was 89.

Pryor died Monday of cancer at his home in Wilmington, North Carolina, his wife, actress Christine Belford, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In a note to be delivered to THR after his death, he wrote: “Nicholas Pryor was enormously grateful to have been, for nearly 70 years, a working actor.”

From 1997-2002, Pryor played the former spy Victor Collins on the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles, culminating a long career in daytime soap operas that included stints on The Secret Storm, The Edge of Night, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, All My Children and Another World.

Pryor recurred on Fox’s Beverly Hills, 90210 as A. Milton Arnold, the chancellor of California University and father of Robertson’s Claire Arnold,...

Clint Eastwood's Hollywood career officially began in 1955 when he made a brief, uncredited appearance as a lab technician in Jack Arnold's "Revenge of the Creature." Nine years later, unhappy as a midlevel television star on the CBS Western series "Rawhide," he jetted off to Spain to make a different kind of Western with a very different kind of director named Sergio Leone. The result, "A Fistful of Dollars," changed the face of the genre forever, and set Eastwood down the path to becoming a filmmaker in his own right.

Eastwood's directing career got off to a curiously assured start with the wildly suspenseful thriller "Play Misty for Me," in which the tough, swaggering star of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Dirty Harry" played a victimized Bay Area disc jockey. No one expected this from Eastwood, and it's fair to say no one saw this hugely...

John Wayne is an iconic figure in Hollywood, known mainly for his roles in War and Western movies that defined his career. His acting spanned over five decades, making him one of the most influential actors of his time. He appeared in numerous films slated as some the best Westerns ever made, repeatedly working with various actors across multiple projects. His on-screen persona exuded rugged masculinity, integrity, and a deep connection to the American way of life, often complemented by his co-stars who contributed to the characters and narratives he portrayed. These frequent collaborators, each with unique strengths, played a significant role in shaping his career and contributing to the lasting legacy of John Wayne's Western films.

The actors who frequently appeared alongside Wayne were not just co-stars, but also trusted colleagues whose chemistry with Wayne often led to unforgettable moments. These partnerships developed over the years and across multiple films,...

Kathryn Crosby, a singer and actor who was married to singer and actor Bing Crosby, has died. She was 90 years old. A spokesperson for the family said Kathryn died of natural causes at home in Hillsborough, California, on the night of Friday, September 20, per the Associated Press. Kathryn was born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff on November 25, 1933, in West Columbia, Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, and she got her start in Hollywood after a beauty competition got her a screen test with William Holden, according to Variety. She also wrote a showbiz column for her hometown newspaper, and she met Bing during a White Christmas set visit. Kathryn and Bing tied the knot in 1957 and remained married until his 1977 death. They had three children, including Dallas star Mary Crosby. Kathryn, who sometimes performed under the names Kathryn Grant and Kathryn Grandstaff, made her screen debut as an...

Kathryn Grant Crosby, the actress known for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Anatomy of a Murder, has died. She was 90.

The widow of Bing Crosby died of natural causes on Friday night at her Hillsborough, California home, according to a spokesperson for the Crosby family.

Born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff on Nov. 25, 1933 in West Columbia, Texas, she graduated from University of Texas at Austin before winning a beauty contest with the prize being a screen test in Hollywood with William Holden.

Beginning her onscreen career as Kathryn Grant in 1953, she appeared in such films as So This Is Love (1953), Rear Window (1954) and The Wild Party (1956).

While penning a column about Hollywood for her hometown newspaper, Kathryn met Bing during an interview on the set of his beloved 1954 holiday classic White Christmas. They wed in 1957, and she went on to become a registered nurse and teacher.

Bing Crosby performs with wife Kathryn Grant Crosby on Dec.

Kathryn Crosby, the actor, singer and widow of Bing Crosby, died Friday evening of natural causes at her home in Hillsborough, Calif. She was 90.

A representative for the Crosby family announced the news.

Crosby starred in more than 20 films over the course of her career, including “The Wild Party” (1956), “Operation Mad Ball” (1957), “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958) and “Anatomy of a Murder” (1959). She typically performed under the stage names Kathryn Grant and Kathryn Grandstaff.

Crosby appeared frequently on her husband Bing’s “Merrie Olde Christmas” specials and hosted “The Kathryn Crosby Show,” a 30-minute talk show based in San Francisco. Following the death of the famed singer and actor at the age of 74 in 1977, she performed in several stage productions such as the 1996 Broadway revival of “State Fair.” She also hosted the charitable Crosby National Golf Tournament in Bermuda Run, N.C., for many years.

Kathryn Crosby was born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff on Nov.

Kathryn Crosby, who starred in such films as Operation Mad Ball, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Anatomy of a Murder before she curtailed her acting career as the wife of Hollywood legend Bing Crosby, has died. She was 90.

Crosby died peacefully at her home in Hillsborough, California, surrounded by her family, according to a family spokesperson.

Billed under her stage name, Kathryn Grant, the Houston native made five features for famed film noir director Phil Karlson, including Tight Spot (1955), The Phenix City Story (1955) and The Brothers Rico (1957).

She also played the younger sister of Martha Hyer’s character in another film noir, the Blake Edwards-directed Mister Cory (1957), starring Tony Curtis, and portrayed a budding trapeze artist in The Big Circus (1959), starring Victor Mature.

Soon after wrapping production in Spain with her turn as the damsel in distress Princess Parisa in the Ray Harryhausen fantasy The 7th Voyage of Sinbad...

This month marks the return of one of the most twisted beloved modern movie characters: Betelgeuse. Of course, we all know the bio-exorcist by his easier-to-spell name, Beetlejuice. After over three decades, Beetlejuice is back with the long-awaited and appropriately named sequel "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." You already know that most (though not all) of the cast of the original 1988 Tim Burton horror-comedy is back, including Michael Keaton as the Juice himself. One big talking point Keaton has hit on in the pre-release marketing is that, in all the years of development, he pushed hard to ensure that his character was...not in a lot of the movie. It's not just false modesty -- Beetlejuice is only in 17 minutes of the movie bearing his name, but he makes a massive impact all the same. And Keaton's performance as Beetlejuice is just one of many that manages to be memorable and iconic without being overbearing.

Glen Powell is in a league of his own. Or rather, each leading man is to an extent.

Powell weighed in on a comparison between himself and fellow star Ryan Gosling after an unnamed Hollywood producer told The Wrap that Powell appeals to all genders at the box office. The producer seemingly overlooked Gosling’s diverse filmography, and marginalized both actors into gender binaries.

“Unlike an actor like Ryan Gosling whose appeal is mostly limited to female audiences, Glen appeals to both females and males,” the producer said, adding that a wide range of “audiences now go to movies to see” Powell who recently led “Twisters” and is set to star in the “Running Man” remake from Edgar Wright. The actor will also appear in college football comedy series “Chad Powers.”

Powell simply shrugged off the Gosling mention on Twitter.

“Gosling is a legend,” Powell tweeted. “I’m just Glen,...

There really hasn’t been a filmmaker quite like Blake Edwards. He could go from the silly-billy comedy of his “Pink Panther” comedies starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau to “Days of Wine and Roses,” a devastating drama dealing with alcoholism to the gender-bender musical comedy “Victor/Victoria” starring his wife Julie Andrews to the underrated Western “The Wild Rovers” with William Holden and Ryan O’Neal. Edwards even turned the diminutive British comedian Dudley Moore into a leading man thanks to his 1979 romantic comedy “10.” And let’s not forget the extraordinary collaboration he had with composer Henry Mancini who earned four Oscars including best song “Moon River” from 1961’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and the title tune from 1962’s “Days of Wine and Roses.”

Still, there was no love lost between Edwards and Hollywood.

In my 2003 Los Angeles Times interview with Edwards, who had personality to spare, said “I have been a...

“Slow Horses” star Gary Oldman is the frontrunner to win Best Drama Actor at the upcoming Emmys. Oldman earned his first and only Oscar six years ago for his portrayal of World War II-era British prime minister Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.” That win was sandwiched between two other lead bids for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2012) and “Mank” (2021). His sole Emmy nomination to date came in 2001 for his guest appearance in the two-part seventh season finale of “Friends”; he lost to Derek Jacobi (“Frasier”).

On Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses,” which is based on a series of novels by Mick Herron, Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, a particularly uncouth MI5 officer saddled with the responsibility of supervising a group of service rejects. This constitutes his very first regular role on a continuing series and his first live action TV performance at all in over two decades.

Oldman would be the 12th...

With Richard Linklater, Edgar Wright, and Tom Cruise calling Glen Powell the modern version of an Old Hollywood leading man, it’s only fitting that Paul Schrader would chime in.

The “Oh, Canada” writer/director posted on Facebook that Powell is akin to Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, and William Holden in terms of his star power.

“Glen Powell is a movie star in the Holden/Mitchum/Newman mold,” Schrader wrote. “Now he needs to make his ‘Hud.'”

Newman starred in the 1963 Western-tinged drama “Hud,” directed by Martin Ritt, which helped cement the rise of the antihero main characters. Newman’s titular Hud Bannon lives on his family cattle ranch in Texas and battles his nephew (Brandon de Wilde) for the affections of housekeeper Alma (Patricia Neal). Newman gave a performance as an arrogant, abusive alcoholic that earned him an Academy Award Best Actor nomination. The film went on to win Best Cinematography,...

On Dec. 16, 1974, 20th-Fox and Warner Bros. unveiled in theaters what would become a landmark disaster movie: The 170-minute, John Guillermin-directed Towering Inferno. The movie, which took in $116 million domestically at the time, tops The Hollywood Reporter’s list of greatest disaster movies of all time. THR’s original review of the feature is below:

Movie technology is the star of this awesome Irwin Allen production, a formula disaster picture made into an event by the sheer size of its inflating production values. More ordeal than entertainment, it overwhelms the spectator like a bully playing on the fears of a society trapped in its own burning affluence.

Since the screenplay by Stirling Silliphant has nothing new to say (the “insanity” of building skyscrapers is dealt with in Earthquake), and the general doomsday appeal of the disaster genre has already been established, The Towering Inferno‘s appeal lies entirely in immediate visceral reactions.

The concept of good vs. evil is at the heart of almost every movie ever made, but how that antagonistic force takes shape always varies. We can look at certain genres, such as superhero films or horror movies, and envision what a villain looks like. Sometimes they'll wield a knife or an axe, or perhaps they'll attempt to destroy the world to gain incalculable power. But arguably some of the most terrifying antagonists in films can't be visualized in the same way, because they all emanate from nature; if nothing else, they become so much more terrifying specifically because you can't reason with these antagonists and they have no sentience like human beings. 

A natural disaster is at the heart of the big movie of the week, Lee Isaac Chung's long-awaited "Twisters," a follow-up to Jan de Bont's 1996 film all about storm chasers in Oklahoma. But natural disasters...

The disaster movie genre peaked in the 1970s with films like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, but declined after the 1980 failure of Paul Newman's When Time Ran Out. The 1990s saw a revival of disaster movies with Twister and Independence Day, with improved visual effects and star-studded ensembles. Paul Newman regretted starring in When Time Ran Out, a film he made purely for the money, and there's an unconfirmed rumor he used his salary to fund Newman's Own food company.

Paul Newman's follow-up to The Towering Inferno was such a profound bomb it all but killed the disaster movie genre for nearly two decades. Movies like Jaws and Star Wars changed cinema forever, and shaped the modern-day obsession with effects-driven blockbusters. The 1970s also saw disaster thrillers become a staple, especially the kind of big budget epics produced by Irwin Allen. Movies like The Poseidon Adventure,...

Movies that feature age-gap relationships take on many different subjects, but they all deal with the potential fallout from the connection. Sabrina and Charade both star Audrey Hepburn in romantic entanglements with complex older men. Something's Gotta Give demonstrates the power of finding love later in life and features a stellar cast of veteran performers.

A Family Affair recently premiered on Netflix, and since its release, it's been exciting to draw comparisons to the best movies like it in the romance genre. Whether other films of this type are pure rom-coms like A Family Affair or more serious takes on love, the subjects that A Family Affair tackles aren't foreign to any audience familiar with watching relationships unfold onscreen. It stars Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron as the romantic leads who embark on a whirlwind romance despite their age gap. Additionally, it features Joey King as Kidman's daughter, who doesn't approve of the relationship.

Two For The Road Image: 20th Century Fox “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were like that?” Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) asks the man eventually known as Brian Cruikshank (Cary Grant) as they walk along the Seine in Paris a bit more than halfway into the comic thriller Charade.

CharadeImage: Universal Pictures

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we were like that?” Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) asks the man eventually known as Brian Cruikshank (Cary Grant) as they walk along the Seine in Paris a bit more than halfway into the comic thriller Charade. Brian is confused, because they...

Sidney Lumet was the Oscar-nominated director who proved incredibly prolific during his career, directing over 40 movies in 50 years, from his feature debut “12 Angry Men” (1957) through his cinematic farewell “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” (2007). But how many of those titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born on June 25, 1924, Lumet got his start as a child actor, appearing in “One Third of a Nation” (1939) when he was 15 years old. After serving during WWII, he quickly began directing Off-Broadway plays before moving into the burgeoning medium of television, where he helmed hundreds of live teleplays. While working on episodes of “Playhouse 90,” “Kraft Theater” and many more, he honed his abilities to shoot quickly and economically.

His turned to movies with “12 Angry Men,” an adaptation of Reginald Rose‘s TV drama about a lone juror (Henry Fonda) holding out during a murder trial.

The release of First Omen has encouraged many fans to revisit The Omen franchise ( Photo Credit – Facebook )

First Omen has rekindled the viewers’ interest in the classic horror franchise The Omen, prompting many fans to revisit the iconic series. Here, we have explored The Omen franchise in a chronological order. This series has left an indelible mark on the horror genre, and understanding its sequence will enhance your viewing experience, allowing you to appreciate the evolution of its dark and haunting story.

First Omen (2024) Director: Arkasha Stevenson Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Tawfeek Barhom, Maria Caballero Available on: Hulu (US) & Disney Plus hotstar (India) IMDb rating: 6.5/10

Begin your journey into the omen franchise with the movie First Omen that sets the plot in motion for the birth of the Antichrist. Nell Tiger Free stars as a nun sent to a secretive church in Rome, where she unravels...

Billy Wilder was the six-time Oscar winner who left behind a series of classically quotable features from Hollywood’s Golden Age, crafting sharp witted and darkly cynical stories that blended comedy and pathos in equal measure. Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Wilder was born to a family of Austrian Jews in 1906. After working as a journalist, he developed an interest in filmmaking and collaborated on the silent feature “People on Sunday” (1929) with fellow rookies Fred Zinnemann, Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer. With the rise of Adolph Hitler, Wilder fled to Paris, where he co-directed the feature “Mauvaise Graine” (1934). Tragically, his mother, stepfather and grandmother all died in the Holocaust.

After moving to Hollywood, Wilder enjoyed a successful career as a screenwriter, earning Oscar nominations for penning 1939’s “Ninotchka” and 1941’s “Hold Back the Dawn” and “Ball of Fire.” He...

One major complaint against Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds, who are currently some of the biggest names in Hollywood, is they play it too safe with their movies. Despite having starred in dramas early in their career, since their rise to fame in Hollywood, both actors have limited themselves in a bubble and are known for playing themselves in most movies.

But things couldn’t be more different with Tom Cruise, arguably the biggest movie star on the planet, and one of the major recipes behind it is the actor’s willingness to learn.

Tom Cruise Is Always Willing to Expand into New Territories

Tom Cruise | Credit: Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)

Unlike Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds’ filmography, which feels like an extension of their brand, Tom Cruise has always been in the game following his passion for the art form. While it wasn’t until he was...

Several top stars put their careers on hold and their lives on the line to serve during World War II including Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, Robert Taylor, Alan Ladd, William Holden, Robert Ryan and Robert Montgomery. And numerous young men who weren’t yet actors during the global conflict including Lee Marvin and Charles Durning saw action and suffered severe injuries.

With the 80th anniversary of D-Day, which was the largest amphibious invasion in military history with five naval assault divisions invading the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, let’s look at some actors who participated in the massive operation.

Charles Durning

The versatile character actor, who earned supporting actor Oscar nominations for 1982’s “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and 1983’s “To Be or Not to Be” and nine Emmy nominations, was just 21 when he was one of the first group of soldiers to land and...

Cinephiles romanticize the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and most of the 1970s as a time of artistic rebellion during which a batch of young directors and experienced helmers saved Hollywood by connecting with Baby Boomer moviegoers bored with formula Westerns, backlot musicals, and all the other fusty stuff their parents dragged them to throughout their childhood. These artists toyed with genre conventions and film technique to reignite a jaded generation's excitement for the medium at a time when television was becoming an increasingly appealing entertainment option.

It was an incredibly exciting time for movies, but audiences of all ages still had an appetite for good ol' cinematic spectacle. They might've tired of sword-and-sandal epics and widescreen adaptations of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, but there was nothing wrong with studios spending loads of money to fill the big screen with eye-popping imagery.

And for most of the 1970s,...

The highest-paid actors in Hollywood — Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Keanu Reeves, and others — could easily command millions of dollars in upfront salary. For Avengers: Endgame, Downey Jr. earned a $20 million upfront salary and a $75 million total income. The precedent for these humongous salaries was Elizabeth Taylor’s upfront salary of $1 million for Cleopatra.

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame | Marvel Studios

The British-American actress worked in the industry for nearly seven decades. She was cast in Cleopatra after she completed her contract at MGM Studios. 20th Century Fox, who produced the film, recognized her incredible talent and offered her a massive guaranteed salary along with a percentage of the gross profits.

Elizabeth Taylor Became The First Movie Star To Be Paid $1 Million Salary Elizabeth Taylor in a still from Cleopatra | 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox set aside a sum of $2 million for the production of their project Cleopatra.

When Tony Scott died in 2012, he left behind more than a few unfinished projects, including a remake of Sam Peckinpah’s iconic Western, The Wild Bunch.

L.A. Confidential screenwriter Brian Helgeland was attached to write the script for the remake of The Wild Bunch for Tony Scott, and he spilled a few details about the project while speaking with Inverse, including that it would have been set in the modern day.

“I also wrote 45 pages of The Wild Bunch for Tony to direct before he died. Sadly, I always say that I’m still on page 45 of that project,” Helgeland said. “It’s pretty violent and set in the modern day. The plot revolves around L.A. rampart cops that were being sent to prison, but during the trial, they’re still technically free. So, they decide to head down to Mexico and rob a bank before scattering to the...

William Holden was an Oscar-winning performer who starred in dozens of movies, remaining active until his untimely death in 1981. But how many of his titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born on April 17, 1918, Holden made his film debut with a starring role in the boxing drama “Golden Boy” (1939) when he was just 21 years old. Though his career lagged for the next decade, he came roaring back with Billy Wilder‘s Hollywood noir “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), playing a struggling screenwriter who becomes involved with a fading, delusional silent film star (Gloria Swanson). The role brought him his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor.

He joined the winner’s circle just three years later with a Best Actor victory for Wilder’s “Stalag 17” (1953), which cast him as a cynical American Pow who’s suspected of being a German informant during WWII.

Jean-Paul Vignon, the romantic French vocalist and actor who impressed audiences on both sides of the Atlantic during an eight-decade career, died March 22 of liver cancer in Beverly Hills, his family announced. He was 89.

Performing a repertoire of contemporary pop and American standards, Vignon debuted in the U.S. in 1963 at the famed New York supper club The Blue Angel, where he opened for stand-up comic Woody Allen.

Ed Sullivan would soon showcase him on his Sunday night CBS variety show in eight appearances — including one in which he sang a duet with young Liza Minnelli — and he became a regular guest on Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin’s programs.

Signed to Columbia Records, Vignon released his first U.S. album, Because I Love You, in 1964. Three years later, he had a supporting role opposite William Holden and Cliff Robertson in the World War II film The Devil’s Brigade.

In...

At the inaugural Academy Awards in 1929, native Pennsylvanian Janet Gaynor made history as the first American-born performer to win an Oscar by taking the Best Actress prize for her body of work in “7th Heaven,” “Street Angel,” and “Sunrise.” Over the subsequent 95 years, 215 more thespians originating from the United States won the academy’s favor, meaning the country has now produced 68.1% of all individual acting Oscar recipients. Considering the last decade alone, the rate of such winners is even higher, at 70.3%.

At this point, 96.8% of American-born acting Oscar victors have hailed from one of 34 actual states. Of those constituting the remainder, three originated from the federal District of Columbia, while four were born in the territory of Puerto Rico. New York (home to 49 winners) is the most common birth state among the entire group, followed by California (34), Illinois (13), Massachusetts (11), and Pennsylvania (11).

Bearing in mind our specific birthplace focus, the 16 states...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film doesn’t yet have a title, but it does have a release date, and it will even open in IMAX theaters.

Warner Bros. has dated the untitled PTA movie for a release on August 8, 2025. The movie officially stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Wood Harris, Alana Haim, and Chase Infiniti.

Anderson is writing, directing, and producing the film, now his 10th narrative feature, with Sara Murphy and Adam Somner also producing.

Warner Bros. is calling PTA’s next movie an “event film,” and its release plans on IMAX are a coup for the director and the studio. Little else is known about it, as Anderson loves working in secrecy, but the film is said to be contemporary in its setting, and it’s felt to be his most “commercial” project to date. The film is currently in production in California.

The...

20th Century Studios’ second trailer for The First Omen finds a priest warning a nun to be very careful around one particular orphan. Why? Because bad things will start to happen around her. Evil things.

Servant‘s Nell Tiger Free stars as the nun who feels protective of the peculiar orphan in the prequel to The Omen. The cast also includes Tawfeek Barhom (Mary Magdalene), Sonia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ralph Ineson (The Northman), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), and Bill Nighy (Living).

Arkasha Stevenson (Channel Zero) directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Tim Smith and Keith Thomas, based on characters created by David Seltzer. David S. Goyer and Keith Levine served as producers, with Tim Smith, Whitney Brown, and Gracie Wheelan executive producing.

“When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes...

John Constantine is known for outsmarting his enemies, historically relying on his cunning to win, rather than defeating his opponents by force. John has always been portrayed as a self-defeating character, his own worst enemy – and this has been highlighted in several storylines where the antagonist turned out to be an alternative version of himself. John's carries the deaths and regrets of his past, which makes characters like "Golden Boy" and "Old John" uniquely equipped to manipulate Constantine, and as a result, they have proven to be the greatest villains he has ever faced.

The famous sardonic sorcerer John Constantine has outsmarted gods, angels, demons, and everything in between. But in the end, his greatest enemy has always been himself. Whether that means his lost twin brother from a parallel universe, or a face-off with his older self.

Several times in John's life, he's gone up against alternate-universe versions of himself,...

Following up her Best Picture-nominated Past Lives, Celine Song has officially unveiled her next feature. Starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal, The Materialists is a romantic comedy that follows “a professional matchmaker who gets involved with a wealthy man but still harbors feelings for the broke actor-waiter she left behind,” Deadline reports. Once again backed by A24, producers Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler of Killer Films, and 2Am’s David Hinojosa, the project is aiming to start shooting this spring, so expect a 2025 release.

Also on the 2025 release calendar is likely Kogonada’s third feature following Columbus and After Yang. Reteaming with Colin Farrell with Margot Robbie also starring, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is said to be an “imaginative tale of two strangers and the unbelievable journey that connects them,” Deadline reports. With production beginning this spring in California, it’ll be Robbie’s second project after Barbie,...

Deadline is reporting on the new project from Stephen Frears, the director of Dangerous Liasons, The Queen and Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight. Frears is set to make Wilder & Me, which will be a screen adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s popular novel Mr. Wilder and Me. The screenplay for the film will be penned by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father), with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing the film. Frears has assembled his impressive cast for the film, which will include Christoph Waltz as legendary movie director Billy Wilder, who has helmed such films as Some Like it Hot and The Apartment. Waltz is set to be joined by Maya Hawke, Jon Hamm and John Turturro.

According to Deadline, “The story starts out during a heady Greek summer, and sees Calista fall in love with cinema and life on a journey of self-discovery. Thrilled by her new adventure,...

Maya Hawke and Jon Hamm have joined Christoph Waltz in the starry cast for Stephen Frears’ upcoming drama, Wilder & Me.

Stephen Frears has managed to assemble quite a formidable cast for his upcoming drama, Wilder & Me, based on Jonathan Coe’s novel Mr Wilder And Me.

Christoph Waltz has long been cast in one of the title roles as the legendary director Billy Wilder, who wrote and directed some of America’s all-time great films across his long career – Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment... we could go on, but there’s a news post we ought to be getting on with.

Wilder & Me’s other major role, though, has gone to Maya Hawke, who’ll play the young composer Calista (essentially the ‘Me’ of the title). The film will be set during the latter stages of Wilder’s career – specifically in late 1970s Greece,...

Exclusive: Two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds), Stranger Things and Maestro star Maya Hawke, Cannes Best Actor winner John Turturro (Severance), and Emmy winner Jon Hamm (Mad Men) are set to star in Oscar-nominated director Stephen Frears’ (The Queen) Wilder & Me, which will be a buzzy package at this month’s EFM market.

Hawke will play Calista, a young musician whose life takes on a whole new meaning while working on the set of Billy Wilder’s film Fedora. Waltz will play legendary film director Wilder, known for classics including Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment. Turturro will play his lifelong friend and screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond. Hamm will play famed actor William Holden.

Described as a “bittersweet drama”, the project has been adapted for the screen by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father) with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing and shoot scheduled for early 2025 in Greece.

Paul Thomas Anderson has announced his next project, marking his first collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio.

The “Licorice Pizza” auteur is set to write, direct, and produce the upcoming untitled project that co-stars Sean Penn and Regina Hall, among an ensemble cast. Penn previously appeared in “Licorice Pizza” as a loose riff on William Holden.

According to Deadline, the new film will have a “contemporary setting” and “is the most commercial” installment in Anderson’s filmography.

Warner Bros. produces the film, with Anderson reuniting with Warner Bros. Picture Group CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy after working with them while the duo was at MGM, where Anderson’s thrice Oscar-nominated “Licorice Pizza” was produced. De Luca was also behind Anderson’s “Boogie Nights” as the former head of production at New Line Cinema. Variety reported that the budget is estimated to be approaching $100 million.

IndieWire confirmed the project with Warner Bros.