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Nepo babies have been around as long as there have been artists. The idea of a "legacy" is one we humans simply cannot get away from. As storytelling beings, we will have always constructed -- and will continue to construct -- broad, historical, intergenerational narratives for ourselves. We can't stop tracing our professional and personal origins among the ancients, and writing their stories directly into our own. We simply shed our fascination with the possibility that talents can be passed from one generation to the next. 

That's certainly the case in Hollywood, a relatively recent art institution in human history, but still rife with its own multigenerational legacies. It's likely you read the headline above and instantly thought of the Coppola clan. The Coppola family has, as of this writing, accrued 12 Oscar wins and 40 nominations between them, and they currently hold the record for the family with the most members to be nominated for Oscars.

"They said it would never happen," the account for "Hundreds of Beavers" posted on March 4, 2025. "Long live indie cinema! $150,000 budget and a dream." When Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews debuted their slapstick comedy about an applejack salesman facing off against hundreds (possibly thousands) of beavers in an attempt to win the heart of a pelt merchant's daughter at Fantastic Fest in 2022, it's doubtful that anyone involved could have predicted the Cinderella story that was in their future. Despite the overwhelming praise that came out of the fest (including Matt Donato's glowing review for /Film), Cheslik and Tews rejected the distribution offers that came their way and instead chose the path of self-distribution. They bet on themselves, and it paid off handsomely.

"Hundreds of Beavers" was shot in rural Wisconsin and Michigan across 12 weeks in the bitter, north-Midwest winter. As anyone who hears the phrase "lake effect" and...

Parasite director Bong Joon-ho directs Robert Pattinson in a dark sci-fi satire filled with clones and creatures. Our review of Mickey 17:

As science fiction has so consistently pointed out, humanity’s flaws will follow us no matter how far into space we travel. Artificially-intelligent computers will glitch out and try to kill us because they’re the flawed products of a flawed species. We’ll go to other worlds and kill whatever creatures we might find there because, for some reason, we just can’t outrun our murderous, colonial past.

Mickey 17 is the latest film from writer-director Bong Joon-ho, a filmmaker who has long looked witheringly at our worst impulses. Coming almost six years after his Best Picture-winning thriller Parasite, this is a blackly comic sci-fi satire more of a piece with The Host, Snowpiercer or Okja – a more antic, scattershot genre piece, but no less pointed...

The gags might be a tad silly and the storytelling slightly contrived, but it’s hard to resist the charm of hapless scoundrel Johnny ‘Spit’ Spitieri

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Punching up is a valuable rule of thumb for comedians. When it comes to film and TV, however, few would insist on a blanket rule that all gags should be directed towards people of higher status than the joke-makers. Doing so would rob us of some brilliant comic characters, including the greatest of all time: Charlie Chaplin as the Tramp.

It would also expunge from existence Johnny “Spit” Spitieri, the bleary-eyed criminal and former heroin addict hilariously played by David Wenham, first in the 2003 Australian film Gettin’ Square and now in his very own spin-off. This enjoyably low-key affair has occasional laugh-out-loud moments, including one that takes place in a courtroom – like Gettin‘ Square’s funniest scene...

As Indian cinema continues to gain recognition worldwide, it’s still hard to explain the hold it has on those of us who grew up with it.

The intrepid cinephile can always do their research; watch the latest buzzy international feature, check out popular films that are streaming, even judge a book by its cover (a movie by its hit songs). But there’s something at the core of Hindi films especially that is deeply entrenched in culture. Usually I explain it by describing the theater where I watched every new Hindi film from 2005-2009: a suburban Michigan multiplex whose concession counter was flanked by two sacred symbols — a statue of the Hindu god Ganesh, and a framed photo of actor Shah Rukh Khan.

You need to understand that, at least conceptually, to appreciate something like “Superboys of Malegaon,” the true story of film fanatics in the eponymous village...

On Friday February 21 2025, PBS broadcasts American Masters!

The Disappearance of Miss Scott Season 38 Episode 7 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “American Masters,” titled “The Disappearance of Miss Scott,” promises to delve into the life of jazz musician Hazel Scott. This episode will explore her journey as a talented artist who used her platform to advocate for racial equality in a challenging time.

Set against the backdrop of the 1950s, the episode highlights the struggles and triumphs of Scott as she navigates the complex social landscape of her era. Known for her exceptional piano skills and powerful voice, Hazel Scott became a prominent figure in jazz. However, her outspoken views on race and equality put her in a precarious position during the Red Scare.

As the episode unfolds, viewers will witness the impact of political tensions on Scott’s career and personal life. The show will shed light on how her activism and artistic expression intersected,...

The Culver Hotel is partnering with The Culver Theater on The Golden Screen: A Cinema Series, a six-month screening series showcasing films from the MGM library, to mark the centennial of both the studio and the hotel itself.

Kicking off on Wednesday, February 26 with a screening of the Bond film Goldfinger, the series will present a curated selection of titles at the 80-seat venue, transporting audiences to Hollywood’s Golden Age, in celebration of the cinematic roots of The Culver Hotel and Culver City itself.

Screenings will take place monthly at The Culver Theater, directly across from the hotel, with each to be followed by a themed gathering within the hotel’s Velvet Lounge. Tickets are $45 and are available through OpenTable.

The Culver Hotel has been at the heart of Culver City and Hollywood’s history since 1924, hosting everyone from Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo to John Wayne and the...

Of all the projects Johnny Depp has starred in to date, his most remarkable role has unarguably been that of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. However, his chances of returning to the franchise are as bleak as ever after all the Disney abandoning him drama that ensued when he was caught in that messy divorce with his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Johnny Depp. | Credits: The Pirates of the Caribbean Saga / Walt Disney Pictures.

Nonetheless, while his return to the screens through Pirates of the Caribbean 6 seems more unlikely than otherwise, his fans are still as excited for him as ever. This is because the 61-year-old actor already has five other projects in line through which he would be gracing his presence on the big screens, not to mention those untitled ones he is all set to direct!

Johnny Depp is all set to grace the screens...

MK2 Films, the Paris-based indie powerhouse behind “Anatomy of a Fall,” has tapped former Kinology executive Emmanuel Pisarra as head of acquisitions.

Pisarra, who succeeds Olivier Barbier in this role, joins MK2 Films’ growing team, alongside Vanessa Saal, who was recently named executive consultant and U.K. lead; Yasmine Talli, who oversees co-productions; as well as consultants Frances Harvey and Anna Pokorska.

He will report to Fionnuala Jamison, MK2 Films’ managing director. Pisarra, who is attending the Berlin Film Festival, will be shaping the company’s upcoming slate while also leading sales to France and Benelux.

“I’ve long admired mk2 Films for its fearless, forward-thinking approach to cinema—one that values artistic integrity as much as commercial ambition,” said Pisarra. “Joining its exceptional team at such a pivotal moment is an incredible opportunity.”Pisarra brings extensive experience in acquisitions and sales.

At Kinology, Pisarra spearheaded global sales for films...

Can it be called a story of ‘lovers-on-the-run’ if we don’t have an authority-defying couple at the heart of the drama, and if it only involves a minor lie on their part to secure a chicken curry dinner? Perhaps a question I’ll be mulling over for some time. However, the same cannot be my guarantee about the new Netflix film Dhoom Dhaam. Primarily, the microgenre of “lovers-on-the-run” deals with a couple who has left a trail of crime in their wake and is now on the run. They are conspicuously anti-establishment, raging outlaws, and eternally doomed. Dhoom Dhaam does not live up to the glory of this cinematic wonder. The couple is on the run but desperately waits for the police to turn up, only to discover their larger ploy. In Dhoom Dhaam, the drama that unfolds largely spans over a single night and a little part of the day.

Directed by Rishab Seth, Dhoom Dhaam follows the life of a newly married couple who find themselves stuck in a life-threatening situation. At the beginning of the film, we saw that a few masked men robbed a car which was transporting crores of rupees in a bag. Then the narrative took us back in time and showed us how Veer Poddar and Koyal Chaddha became a part of that entire mess. So, let’s find out what happened in the film and why the goons were after Veer and Koyal.

Spoiler Alert

What happened with Veer and Koyal?

Veer was a veterinarian, and his parents wanted to find a very cultured and well-behaved girl for him to get married to. Khushwant Kapoor, Koyal’s uncle, was the common link between both families, and he made sure that both the parties met and got to know each other. As it happens in an arranged marriage setup,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.News Shoulder Arms.Recent layoffs of 70 workers at Alamo Drafthouse locations in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn have prompted the union to file an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. United Auto Workers Local 2179 alleges that the theater chain “failed or refused to bargain in good faith” after management abruptly declared an impasse in negotiations over the issue of reduction in force, part of company-wide austerity measures. The locations unionized in fall of 2023 and have yet to settle the terms of their first contract.Actress Soheila Golestani was barred from leaving Iran to attend the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where she was set to be a member of the Tiger Competition jury. The Seed of...

Jason Statham reteams with director David Ayer and screenwriter Sylvester Stallone for action thriller A Working Man. Here’s the trailer.

Before he became one of the world’s biggest action stars, Sylvester Stallone started his career as a screenwriter. He wrote the script for Rocky – he became the third person in history to be Oscar nominated for both Best Screenplay and Best Actor, after Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles – and since then has had an active role in the scripting of his films. Examples? The Rambo franchise, Cobra, arm wrestling drama Over The Top and the first Expendables to lesser known efforts like Rhinestone and Driven.

His script is the basis for action thriller A Working Man, formerly known as Levon’s Trade. We talked about the name change here.

The synopsis reads as follows:

“Human Traffickers Beware.” Levon Cade (Jason Statham), an ex-black ops agent, leads a peaceful...

There have been some weird Oscar goings-on around the music categories over the years, starting with Erich Wolfgang Korngold not officially winning the Oscar even though his score for “Anthony Adverse” did win in 1936, back when the statue went not to the composer but to the Warner Bros. Studio Music Department that hired him. Then there was Charlie Chaplin winning for his score to “Limelight” in 1973, even though the film was released in 1952 but never played in Los Angeles, making it eligible for the Oscars when it finally played L.A. 20 years later.

(Chaplin’s two fellow composers were both dead by the time they won, and Chaplin himself was a no-show.)

And now Kris Bowers can add his own wrinkle to the list of oddities in the Best Original Score category. Bowers makes his living as a composer but directs short films in his free time with prolific short-doc filmmaker Ben Proudfoot,...

Marathi cinema has come a long way from introducing the Indian audience to the medium of film. One of the first pioneers of Marathi cinema, Dr Dadasaheb Phalke, brought the moving images to the audience with Raja Harishchandra, the first Indian silent film, in 1913. Marathi cinema also gave Indians the first feature film- Shree Pundalik, directed by Dadasaheb Torne, released on 18 May 1912.

The Marathi cinema suffered a significant comedown after the 1970s. With Mumbai becoming the dominant kernel for the more successful and more extensive cannon of Hindi cinema (or Bollywood), the theatre-oriented Marathi cinema seemed to shrink in size before the titan. However, in a period of the last five years when the regional-language cinema is getting more acceptance beyond the nation, the Marathi films are soaring once again for the plinth they once owned exclusively. In this piece, we curate the best of the 21st-century Marathi cinema.

15. Nude...

Rodney Dangerfield’s whole act is predicated on the idea that he gets no respect, which obviously wasn’t true. Dangerfield was a beloved comedian, a successful film actor and a one-time board game star.

But Dangerfield’s comedy catchphrase became depressingly accurate during his dealings with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1994, the Back to School star applied to become a member of the Academy, after his name was submitted by actor and friend Leonard Gaines. When others expressed surprise at the idea of making Dangerfield a member of the Academy, Gaines believed that he was “doing the Academy a favor” by inviting a huge star like Dangerfield.

As the L.A. Times pointed out at the time, Dangerfield met the criteria to join, with “major parts in at least three theatrical releases to his credit.” He also presented an award at the 1987 Oscars and killed.

Play

On top of all that,...

Before Martin Sheen became the iconic President Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing, the show’s creators wanted to cast legendary actor Sidney Poitier. His potential casting would have been a groundbreaking moment for television, as it would have made him the first Black actor to portray a U.S. president on screen. However, despite the initial interest, the plans with Poitier didn’t happen.

Martin Sheen in a still from The West Wing | Credits: NBC

After considering other actors, the role of Bartlet ultimately went to Martin Sheen, whose performance became one of the most beloved aspects of the show.

How did Martin Sheen land the role of President Bartlet over Sidney Poitier?

When casting for the role of President Josiah Bartlet in The West Wing, producers knew they needed someone who could bring both strength and relatability to the character. The role required an actor who could command...

Inspired by such plummy wartime satires as Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H* and Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be, writer-director Hailey Gates’s Atropia looks at the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the War on Terror with a cockeyed air of farcical anti-drama. And despite its lack of apparent insight, the film trips and stumbles its way into a stirring anti-war message through a mountain of inspired inanities and heartfelt romance.

Fayruz (Alia Shawkat) is the best actor in Atropia, a.k.a. “The Box,” a fake country set up in the California desert as an immersive live-play scenario to train American combat troops before they deploy for Iraq. Giving her all to roles such as “Atropian DVD seller” or “mustard gas chemist,” Fayruz treats Atropia as a stepping stone to a career in Hollywood, always insisting that the next rotation will be her...

Conspiracy theories are rampant in modern Hollywood, with internet weirdos claiming that Avril Lavigne died and was replaced with a lookalike, Beyonce runs the Illuminati, Logan Paul is a talented performer, etc. But viewers back in the day didn’t need the internet to be weird. Conspiracy theories were just as prevalent in Old Hollywood, there just weren't any subreddits to share them on.

5 James Dean Faked His Death

Rumors of faked death have plagued everyone from Elvis to Tupac, but they go back at least as far as James Dean, whose fans immediately refused to believe he really perished in a 1955 car crash. The car, which was put on display by its new owner, wasn’t damaged enough to have withstood a deadly crash, they insisted, so he must have been either disfigured to the point of being hidden by the studio or used the accident as an excuse...

The latest in our series of writers highlighting their favourite feelgood watches is a tribute to Albert Brooks’s 1991 fantasy

In a world where we venerate the actor-writer-director, the great Albert Brooks still feels widely underappreciated. His voice work in Finding Nemo and his Oscar-nominated turn in Broadcast News gave him a respectable level of recognition and acclaim. However, he remains immensely underrated, especially compared with his comedic contemporaries like Steve Martin or Bill Murray. As a writer-director-leading man, he produced some of the funniest, most insightful comedies of the 80s and 90s, often with biting social commentary. But when I need the January blues lifted, I turn to his wonderfully sentimental and uplifting 1991 film Defending Your Life.

Brooks plays Daniel Miller, a divorced, lonely adman with little in his life besides a new BMW. When he is killed in a bus collision, he is transported to Judgment City, a Disneyland-like depiction of purgatory.

Every now and then, a film comes along that transcends its genre, reshaping the cinematic landscape and becoming something of a cultural phenomenon. Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is one such movie.

Released in 1975, this thriller didn’t just win audiences over; it reinvented the concept of the summer blockbuster. But its influence didn’t stop there. Jaws secured a rare spot in the hearts of filmmakers worldwide, including one of the most celebrated animators of all time, Hayao Miyazaki.

A scene from Jaws | Credits: Universal Pictures

From the pulse-pounding score that sticks to your bones to the ever-tightening noose of suspense, Jaws was a cultural earthquake, setting the stage for the blockbuster era that would follow. And then there’s that shark. It didn’t just swim into our screens—it sunk its teeth into the very heart of Hollywood, leaving a legacy that continues to send ripples through the industry.

Storyboards by more than 50 famed filmmakers and animators including Martin Scorsese, Hayao Miyazaki, Federico Fellini, Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson, and Alfred Hitchcock are set to go on display in an exhibition organised by Italy’s Prada Foundation.

The show, titled “A Kind of Language: Storyboards and Other Renderings for Cinema,” will kick off Jan. 30 in Milan at the Prada Foundation’s Osservatorio outpost and then travel to Prada’s Rong Zhai space dedicated to cultural activities in Shanghai in Nov. 2025.

Prada Foundation “Storyboards” exhibit – which comprises more than eight hundred mood boards, drawings, sketches and other items created between the late 1920s and 2024 – is curated by U.S. academic Melissa Harris, who is editor-at-large of Aperture Foundation. The show is designed to create an immersive experience by mimicking the working environment of a storyboard artist with drafting tables and an open layout.

“For many, storyboarding is an integral part of...

A certain section of the audience loves to claim that the world is becoming too woke, yet the decline in the number of political satires and the growing toothlessness of this subgenre of comedy say otherwise. Charles Chaplin did The Great Dictator in 1940, literally one year after World War 2 began. Stanley Kubrick made Dr. Strangelove in 1964 to comment on the Cold War, which officially ended in 1991. Sacha Baron Cohen did The Dictator and Borat to berate America for its relentless war on Iraq, and so did Abhishek Sharma with Tere Bin Laden. Then there was Quentin Tarantino, who did Inglourious Basterds, where he imagined Hitler being killed at a movie theater in Paris. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen did something similar in The Interview, except the subject of the explosive death was Kim Jong Un instead of Hitler. Soon after that, Armando Iannucci released The Death of Stalin, which is pretty self-explanatory,...

Southern California has long endured devastating fires, with the Palisades and Eaton fires counting as two of the most destructive blazes in its history. More than a century ago, a series of fires in what is now the Palisades laid claim to Inceville, one of the first film studios.

The studio was founded in 1912 by Thomas Ince, a producer-director and mogul during the silent film era, built where Sunset Boulevard now intersects the Pacific Coast Highway. The grounds, spanning 18,000 acres and housing 700 people, were used to shoot numerous Westerns, with Ince helping to popularize the genre. Inceville played a part in establishing the star system and formalizing the roles of director, screenwriter and editor as separate positions.

In a 1961 essay for The Hollywood Reporter, writer Allan Hersholt recalled how his father, Jean Hersholt, landed his first acting gig at Inceville in 1915. “It had sprung up like a gold-rush town, about...

Nickel Boys was named best picture in the 59th National Society Of Film Critics vote on Saturday, while Payal Kapadia earned the best director award for her Indian drama All We Imagine As Light.

In the acting categories Marianne Jean-Baptiste from Hard Truths and Colman Domingo from Sing Sing took lead acting honours, with Michele Austin from Hard Truths and Kieran Culkin from A Real Pain earning supporting actor recognition. A Real Pain struck a second time as Jesse Eisenberg took the screenplay prize.

Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light was named Best Film Not In The English Language...

Gwen Van Dam, a veteran character actress of seven decades whose 140 credits spanned television, film and the Los Angeles stage, died Dec. 19 at her home in West LA. She was 96.

Per previous reporting attributed to her son Dirk Smillie, the cause of death was a recurrence of cancer.

Throughout her long-tenured career, Van Dam appeared in 1978’s Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis, 1994’s Star Trek Generations with Patrick Stewart, the romantic war drama Coming Home featuring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight and the Sidney Poitier-helmed Gene Wilder pic Stir Crazy.

Among her television credits are illustrious series like Days of Our Lives, Gilmore Girls, Knots Landing, ER, Moonlighting, The Brady Bunch, Maude, Owen Marshall, New Girl, Modern Family and Criminal Minds.

On the music video side of things, she appeared in visual works for U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Panic! At the Disco and heavy metal band Mastodon.

Mikey Madison may be having her star-making moment, with recognition from multiple critics groups for her performance in Sean Baker’s “Anora,” as well as a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy at tonight’s Golden Globe Awards, but rather than revel, she’s taking time to pay homage to those who helped shape her own abilities. Taking a visit to New York’s Criterion Collection offices, Madison spent some time inside the Criterion Closet not only selecting goodies to take home, but acknowledging multiple performances that have stuck with her through the years, from Jackie Coogan in Charlie Chaplin’s “The Kid” to Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson’s “Five Easy Pieces.”

“I really think it’s my favorite Nicholson performance,” said Madison of Rafelson’s film. “There’s just something about how he approaches this character, such a morally gray character,...

Costume designer Jyoti Madnani Singh believes that each individual working in a cinema is a storyteller in their own capacity. With her innovative approach to fashion, she has managed to carve a niche for herself, influencing many aspiring designers and fashion enthusiasts alike. Equally distinctive was her work for South Indian legend Mohanlal’s much-anticipated debut directorial, the Malayalam-language fantasy film, Barroz.

Nift graduate to ‘Barroz’: Jyoti Madnani Singh’s ascent

Representing an age-old era, fantasy has been a hit-or-miss genre in the directory of Indian Cinema. But that did not faze Jyoti from delivering what she does best: weaving intricate details and rich textures into costumes that tell a story. Picking her brain, the artist had some interesting insights into the thought that goes behind the apparel, “Film Barroz depicts both the present time and an era four hundred years back. The challenge was to design shooting-friendly armor,...

A young man sits alone with nothing but his thoughts and his hunger… his hunger to succeed and his hunger for In-n-Out burgers and milkshakes, which he was using to bulk up. Because this man is an actor, not just any actor, he is an up-and-coming movie star with something to prove and he is going to do just that through his artistry and his physicality. No longer would Aaron Johnson be known as the Kick-Ass kid, he was about to be known as the top performer to watch, known as the man who was about to be an A-lister until he was known as Aaron Taylor-Johnson, cuz he decided to take his wife’s last name and confuse everyone on so many levels – especially me! ”I was always told at school that you had to have a backup plan, but all I ever wanted to do was act.

What films cracked you up in 2024? Or, more specifically, what moments in movies made you laugh the hardest? Sometimes, a film can be generally meh but contains a scene or a performance so funny that you can forgive its shortcomings. Likewise, a serious drama might include something so darkly hilarious that’s shockingly effective precisely because it’s completely unexpected. And, of course, there are the unfortunate unintentional laughs that can happen when a woefully inept movie falls flat on its face. Hey, we’ll take our laughs however we can.

Below, I’ve counted down the 34 funniest moments in movies this year. Maybe the films themselves weren’t amazing — although some of them certainly were — but they had something so clever or amusing that I never forgot it. Also, I left room for a few instances in which internet users enhanced a movie’s comedic impact by introducing a...

When devising the central conflict for her short film Sidney, writer/director Iris Breward set her opposing characters against each other by emphasising both of their weaknesses and in so doing, opens up a much wider conversation whilst also giving the audience a deserved laugh. Sidney, our central protagonist, is a classically trained clown whose career might not have reached the heights he was aspiring to, with financial pressures placing him in the awkward ‘jobbing’ arena of a children’s birthday party which will take an unexpected turn that no one wanted. Breward gives us a glimpse into the highly trained and diverse world of clowns, taking reference from classic characters such as Pierrot while adding the modern influence of the clowncore social media trend to form her aspiring performer. Sidney is very much a film of two halves both narratively and visually and a short we’re excited to...

Charlie Chaplin has left an indelible mark in world cinema with his comedy films. Born in London in 1889, Chaplin was forced to provide for his family after his father died and his mother had fallen sick. His career kicked off on stage, where he played the character The Tramp and grabbed the audience’s attention. He went on to become a movie actor and won over viewers with films like The Kid, The Gold Rush, and City Lights.

Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in a still from The Kid | Credits: First National

It wasn’t just his movies that gained worldwide attention. Chaplin’s personal life was also under a massive spotlight. He was married four times and had eleven children. He was married to his fourth wife, Oona O’Neill, until his death. Their relationship raised some eyebrows due to the age difference between them.

The shocking age difference between...

Prior to becoming one of television’s most iconic hosts, Conan O’Brien grew up as one of six siblings, in Brookline, Massachusetts. Coming from a family where his father was a doctor and his mother was a lawyer, O’Brien seemingly chose one of the most out-of-the-box professions for himself.

Conan O’Brien in a still from his talk show | image: YouTube/Team Coco

Recently, Conan O’Brien faced the twin tragedies of losing both his parents to old age, leaving him with a deeply emotional chapter of his life. O’Brien’s parents died three days apart, in December 2024.

Who are Conan O’Brien’s parents?

Born on April 18, 1963, Conan O’Brien—television’s one of the most renowned talk show hosts and comedians—was raised in an Irish Catholic family, as one of six siblings. According to US Weekly, O’Brien grew up in a home filled with intellectuals and professionals,...

One of our favorite times of the month is when the Criterion Collection drops their releases for the months ahead and the batch its announced for March certainly doesn’t disappoint. Ranging from dark rom-coms to monster movies, Criterion is adding some proper deep cuts, as well as 4K restorations of two films that are already part of the collection.

The first film given the Criterion treatment is Alan Rudolph’s “Choose Me,” starring Keith Carradine and Lesley Ann Warren. Set in Los Angeles during the 1980s, the film follows a number of lovers violently weaving in and out of each other’s live, mostly crossing paths at a dive bar. A protégé of Robert Altman, Rudolph’s films, such as “Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle” and “Breakfast of Champions,” often carry a balance of absurdity and bite. Next up is the 1989 addition to the Godzilla cannon, “Godzilla vs. Biollante” from Kazuki Omori.

Should you ever need to give your watchlist some extra oomph, you can't go wrong by referring to IMDb's Top 250 list, which includes some of the best movies that cinema has ever had to offer. The great thing about such a mammoth pile of films is that icons of Hollywood will be popping in more than one entry on the list. Of course, some stars have a greater presence on this compendium than others, and while it might not shock many as to who has the most entries, it's surprising to see who the runner-ups are.

Coming in at the number one spot with the most films in IMDb's Top 250 is the man many believe to be perhaps the best actor ever -- Robert De Niro. Having appeared in over 100 films, nine of De Niro's projects rank among the website's most beloved 250: "The Godfather Part II," "Goodfellas,...

What’s on the new release slate over at the Criterion Collection for March 2025? The boutique home video label announced its titles for that month today, and new spines include one of the best 1970s neo-noirs, a Godzilla classic, an Alan Randolph triumph, and a silent film masterpiece. Also, two new re-issues: Michael Mann‘s “Thief” and Henri-George Clouzot‘s “The Wages Of Fear.”

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

But let’s check out the spec on the new titles first.

Continue reading Criterion’s March 2025 Releases Include Arthur Penn’s ‘Night Moves,’ ‘Godzilla Vs. Biollante,’ Alan Randolph’s ‘Choose Me’ & An Early Charlie Chaplin Masterwork at The Playlist.

It may have taken a half-century and well after he made films with any consistency, but Alan Rudolph is at last experiencing a verdant season. Just months since a remaster and rerelease of his 1999 Breakfast of Champions, he’s been inaugurated into the Criterion Collection with one of his very greatest films, Choose Me, which arrives on 4K this March.

The month also includes Michael Mann’s Thief, upgrading a Blu-ray from 2014, and early-early Criterion title The Wages of Fear getting a much-overdue make-over. Godzilla vs. Biolante and Night Moves enter the Collection in 4K, while Charlie Chaplin’s A Woman of Paris arrives on Blu-ray.

See cover art below and more at Criterion:

The post The Criterion Collection’s March 2025 Lineup Includes Michael Mann, Alan Rudolph, and The Wages of Fear on 4K first appeared on The Film Stage.

The annual To Save and Project festival has unveiled its 2025 lineup. Presented by the Museum of Modern Art and Chanel, the 21st annual event is the definitive international festival of film preservation. The latest edition is dedicated to celebrating newly preserved and restored films from archives, studios, distributors, foundations, and independent filmmakers from around the world.

The 2025 To Save and Project: The 21st MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation will take place from January 9 to January 30, and include more than 25 feature films and shorts programs in newly preserved or restored versions.

Frank Borzage’s “7th Heaven” (1927) will open the festival, as presented in a new upgrade from MoMA’s previous restoration. Charlie Chaplin’s 1918 World War I comedy “Shoulder Arms” will close the festival with a reconstruction of the seldom-seen original version presented as a work-in-progress.

Highlights also range from Yevgeny Chervyakov’s long-lost Soviet film “My Son (Moy Syn...

As a free streaming option, Tubi is one of the most underrated platforms out there, but there are plenty of funny movies on Tubi right now that can help show people its potential. Movie fans of all kinds will always feel the need to have a laugh from time to time with comedy movies being a popular choice across all streaming platforms. However, Tubi’s library of content is one of the most unique in the streaming world, with a mix of underrated gems and older classics.

The list of comedy movies on Tubi is a long one, providing enough laughs for audiences of all kinds. The selection showcases the versatility of comedy movies, with sports comedies, romantic comedies, and horror comedies to name only a few. There are also some of the most beloved comedy stars with movies available, from Adam Sandler to Seth Rogen to Charlie Chaplin. The...

Stories that span genres, languages and filmmaking techniques are among the contenders for a nomination for best Oscars short this year.

Director Victoria Warmerdam‘s I’m Not a Robot opens with a familiar experience of a person attempting to successfully respond to a captcha prompt in order to access a website. However, after multiple failed tries, the woman, named Lara, discovers that she is indeed a bot.

“At first it’s such a funny thought, like, ‘What if I’m actually a robot and I find out through a captcha,’ but when I really started writing the script and thinking about it, it’s about the patriarchy and feminism and what if you’re not, in a way, in control of your own body,” Warmerdam said during a taping of THR Presents, powered by Vision Media. “I think that’s, especially now, unfortunately, still such an important topic to talk about.

Oftentimes the film industry is graced with talents who remain unmatched and unparalleled, whose magic on screen cannot be recreated no matter how hard one tries. Charlie Chaplin, Daniel Day-Lewis, Robin Williams, and Denzel Washington are some of them, and Jim Carrey undoubtedly belongs in this league. Known primarily for his comedic roles, Carrey’s boundless energy and transformative performances have made him a cornerstone of the industry for decades.

Jim Carrey in a still from The Truman Show | Credits: Paramount Pictures

So, it was a shock when the beloved actor decided to step away from the realm of acting altogether in 2022, remarking that he had done enough and would love to enjoy his remaining time in peace. While fans understood his decision and respected it, they have missed his presence on the big and small screen. Hence, it was a delight in an unmeasurable sense when the actor came...

Marshall Brickman, the Oscar-winning co-writer of Annie Hall, has died. Per The New York Times, Brickman’s daughter, Sophie, confirmed his death but did not report a cause. He was 85.

Best known as the co-screenwriter of Woody Allen’s most revered work, Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan, and, later, Manhattan Murder Mystery,...

Through unforgettable performances, several actors have established themselves as the greatest of all time. After more than a century of cinematic history, there have been myriad actors and actresses who have enjoyed their fair share of the spotlight. A long list of stars from the industry's past and present, ranging from Charlie Chaplin to Clint Eastwood, have achieved reputations as movie legends.

The diverse list of movie genres lends itself well to the massive pool of movie stars audiences have followed over the years. Some developed a mastery over a certain medium, with actors like John Wayne and James Cagney becoming synonymous with Westerns and gangster films respectively. Others tried to showcase their versatility by appearing in all sorts of different films. In one way or another, numerous actors have made enough contributions to movie history to earn their place among the best.

Viola Davis Notable Movies: Doubt, The Help,...

Let’s talk about one of the internet’s weirdest obsessions: killing off celebrities who are very much alive. What started as rare newspaper blunders in the early 1900s has morphed into a full-blown social media sport, where a single viral post can “declare” a star’s death faster than you can say “fake news.”

A still from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2001-2007) | Credits: Cartoon Network Studios

From Charlie Chaplin’s early brush with rumored demise to today’s pop icons getting “canceled” by bogus death reports, celebrities have basically become professional rumor-busters. These death hoaxes aren’t just random internet noise—they’re bizarre opportunities for stars to showcase their wit, turning potentially scary misinformation into clever comebacks and marketing moments. Turns out, in the age of viral headlines, staying alive can be its own form of entertainment.

1. Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin in a still from...

“Superboys of Malegaon” is a dynamic celebration of passion, creativity, and the transformational power of storytelling. This cinematic odyssey, directed by Reema Kagti and slated to be released in early 2025, tells the incredible true story of amateur filmmakers from a small Indian hamlet who converted their movie-obsessed dreams into reality.

Adarsh Gourav plays Nasir Shaikh, a devoted cinema enthusiast who transforms his struggling video shop into a hub for local filmmaking. The cast, which includes Vineet Kumar Singh as the idealistic writer Farogh and Shashank Arora as their supportive buddy Shafique, brings to life a narrative that is half underdog story, part love letter to cinema.

After making waves at the Toronto International Film Festival and prepping for its European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, “Superboys of Malegaon” promises to be more than just a movie—it’s a testimony to the universal desire to create art overall circumstances.

Emma Stone might be in a whole bunch of your favorite movies — but what are her favorites?

In January 2024, Stone spoke to Letterboxd — the social media site centered around movies — about her "four favorites," a regular interview the outlet does with major Hollywood celebrities. After appearing visibly stressed by the prospect of only picking four movies, Stone responds that Charlie Chaplin's 1931 comedy "City Lights" is her all-time favorite movie. "I love 'Network,'" Stone continued, name-checking the 1976 dark comedy that won Best Picture at the 49th Academy Awards in 1977. "'Mikey and Nicky,' I just saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago," Stone raved, citing Elaine May's movie (also from 1976) about a mobster and his best friend (played by John Cassavetes and Peter Falk). "I love almost every Cassavetes movie — that one wasn't Cassavetes, he's just in it. It's obviously Elaine May, who's a genius,...

Fans of classic silent film comedies, and Charlie Chaplin in particular, will no doubt be interested in visiting the “Chaplin Cabin” in Paradise Springs, California. No, Chaplin didn’t film any of his iconic movies in the cabin, nor did write any iconic gags while staying there. The cabin was purely for “debaucherous” partying during the heyday of prohibition.

These days, the cabin is part of a glamping resort owned by the French company Huttopia. On its website, Huttopia boasts that the Paradise Springs’ Chaplin Cabin is “rustic yet refined,” features a “cozy atmosphere perfect for relaxing evenings” and is a “historic retreat nestled in a stunning natural setting, rich with Hollywood history.”

They’re not wrong, but that Hollywood history is actually pretty darn filthy.

The original owner of the cabin wasn’t Chaplin, it was silent film actor Noah Beery Sr., who along with his “hard-partying” Oscar-winning brother...

Found-footage documentary Trains, directed by veteran Polish auteur Maciej J. Drygas, has won the best film award of the international competition at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). It comes with the €15,000 cash prize.

Trains is an archive-based film made without voiceover or commentary other than an opening quote from Franz Kafka. It comprises footage of trains sourced from a reported 45 archives across the world. Much of the imagery is disturbing - wounded and deformed soldiers, dead bodies from concentration camps, Nazi officers on their way to war zones. There is also material of Hitler and Charlie Chaplin.

Drygas’s...

This weekend sees the release of Wicked, the highly-anticipated adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, which, despite what certain tie-in toy packages indicate, is no way affiliated with the porn studio of the same name.

But Wicked is hardly the first Wizard of Oz movie, in addition to the 1939 MGM classic, there was the recent Oz the Great and Powerful with James Franco, the ‘70s Motown-produced The Wiz and even a TV version starring the Muppets. And the less said about the animated sequel featuring live-action scenes of Bill Cosby as the Wizard, the better.

But while we all think of the ‘39 version as the definitive cinematic take on the story, it wasn’t actually the first Oz feature film. More than a decade before Judy Garland played Dorothy Gale, there was a feature-length silent version of The Wizard of Oz made in 1925. And it’s completely bonkers.

In the ‘25 film,...

From its inception in 1908 with Émile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie, film animation has always been a medium that esteems the conveyance of visuals, by its very definition. As animation as we know it has evolved in its 116 years of official existence, animators have consistently used the medium as an incubator for...