News

Let us begin with gratitude. Thank you, Sly Stone, for being so generous with your music before your death on Monday at the age of 82 — for the wealth of durable hits that includes “Stand!,” “Sing a Simple Song,” “Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music,” “Family Affair,” and, yes, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again).”

Thank you, Sly, for effectively inventing 1970s funk and the career of Prince with that last song. Thank you, Sly for pulling together the Family Stone, a band of players and singers Black and white, male and female, that served as a music-world version of the original Sesame Street cast, bright with the 1960s promise of a multicultural future unbound by racial or genre distinctions.

And thank you, Sly, falettin me into your life in 2007. Permit me to explain.

I grew up besotted with the music of the man born Sylvester Stewart in 1943. His songs defined my primordial years,...

Brian Avnet, the respected personal manager and music executive who discovered Josh Groban, collaborated with David Foster and helped The Manhattan Transfer to great success, has died. He was 82.

Avnet died May 14 at his home in Los Angeles after a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease, a publicist announced.

The Baltimore native also worked closely with the likes of Johnny Mandel, Herb Alpert and Lani Hall, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Cyndi Lauper, Take 6, Jean-Luc Ponty, Eric Benét and Joshua Ledet.

Avnet began working with The Manhattan Transfer in 1979, and two years later the vocal group became the first to win Grammys in the pop and jazz categories in the same year, earning trophies for “The Boy From New York City” and “Until I Met You (Corner Pocket).”

“Brian was an excellent manager and like a brother to me,” Manhattan Transfer founding member Alan Paul said in a statement.

Six days after previewing the song at the semi-annual Light Up The Blues charity show, Neil Young has officially released “Let’s Roll Again” from his upcoming LP Talkin’ To the Trees, which arrives June 13. It may sound like a sequel to his 2002 September 11 song “Let’s Roll,” but it’s actually a plea for auto manufacturers to act responsibly and create more electric vehicles.

“C’mon Ford, C’mon Gm,” he sings. “C’mon Chrysler, let’s roll again/Build somethin’ useful, people need/Build us a safe way...

Neil Young has announced a new album with his band, the chrome hearts. Titled Talkin to the Trees, the album serves as the group’s debut LP together and will arrive on June 13th via The Other Shoe/Reprise. Young has also revealed a new song that he debuted in Los Angeles last week, “Let’s Roll Again,” which takes a swipe at Elon Musk and Tesla.

Talkin to the Trees features Young in all his glory, as well as chrome hearts members Spooner Oldham (Farfisa organ), Micah Nelson (guitar and vocal), Corey McCormick (bass and vocal), and Anthony LoGerfo (drums). Comprised of 10 songs, the album was recorded by longtime producer Lou Adler, John Hanlon, and Young himself. The group previewed Talkin to the Trees initially with a lead single, “big change,” back in January.

Get Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts Tickets Here

Now, they’ve unveiled “Lets Roll Again,...

Believe it or not, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year—and to mark the occasion, Disney has announced a 4K Ultra HD release of the cult classic later in 2025.

With the Walt Disney Studios Restoration team leading the charge, the process of remastering The Rocky Horror Picture Show took ten months. It involved a “meticulous digital scan and preservation process that ensures every frame of the cult classic is presented with unprecedented clarity and vibrancy.” The release will feature a newly mixed Dolby Atmos audio track, bringing enhanced depth and dimension to the soundtrack, but the original mono audio has also been fully restored and will be included.

Related The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) – The Test of Time

“It’s a privilege to help preserve the legacy of a film that has meant so much to so many,” says Kevin Schaeffer, Director of Restoration & Library Management.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a film that changed the world with its incredible music and unabashedly queer themes. It found a cult audience of camp-loving weirdos who helped make the film into the cult classic it is today. To celebrate this incredible legacy, a newly restored and remastered version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be unleashed in 4K Ultra HD. Plus, there’s also a brand-new anniversary logo!

If you’re somehow unfamiliar with The Rocky Horror Picture Show:

When a newly engaged couple’s (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) car breaks down on a rainy night, they wind up in the creepy castle of Dr. Frank-n-Furter (Tim Curry). There, they have an adventure that will thrill you, chill you, and fulfill you like never before!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is based on the musical of the same name by Richard O’Brien,...

The Rocky Horror Picture Showfans have a new reason to do the Time Warp. The cult classic movie will be receiving a special 4K restoration to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Deadline reports that the new 4K Uhd restoration of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be released in theaters across the United States, after tireless work to restore it for over ten months by the Walt Disney Studios Restoration team. A meticulous digital scan and preservation process was used to ensure every frame was restored with "unprecedented clarity and vibrancy". It will also come with a new Dolby Atmos auto track.

The film starred Tim Curry in his debut with Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, with cast members including actors from the original theatrical productions, Nell Campbell and Patricia Quinn. The story, which was originally a musical stage production, sees a young couple (Sarandon and Bostwick) who are taken in...

Get ready for a science fiction single feature: The Rocky Horror Picture Show is coming back to theaters. And this time, you'll be able to throw hot dogs and toast at a higher-definition screen than ever before, because the film is getting a 4K remaster for its 50th anniversary. Variety reports that the remaster will also be released on 4K Blu-ray.

The cult classic musical, famous for its rowdy repertory screenings replete with costumed fans and audience participation, was first released in 1975. For its 50th anniversary, the film underwent a painstaking 10-month restoration process by Walt Disney Restoration. Said Lou Adler, who produced the original film, in a statement, "When The Rocky Horror Picture Show was first released, no one thought it would be around very long, let alone…50 years. What began as a small, rebellious project has become a global celebration of individuality, community, and creative freedom. This anniversary...

A new 4K restoration of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will return to U.S. theaters this year in recognition of the film’s 50th anniversary. The restoration, led by the Walt Disney Studios Restoration team, includes a frame-by-frame digital scan and a newly mixed Dolby Atmos audio track. It also features a restored version of the original mono audio.

The work took place over a ten-month period, with the team focusing on maintaining the film’s original look while enhancing its image and sound. Kevin Schaeffer, Director of Restoration and Library Management at Disney, said the process was intended to give audiences “stunning picture and sound” while staying faithful to the film’s spirit.

First released in 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is based on a stage musical created by Richard O’Brien, who also co-wrote the film adaptation with director Jim Sharman. The story follows Brad and Janet, a...

Let’s do the Time Warp again; genre-defying cult sensation The Rocky Horror Picture Show is turning 50 this year. To celebrate, a newly restored and remastered version is heading to 4K Ultra HD with a new anniversary logo.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was first released in 1975 and became one of the longest-running theatrical release of all time thanks to its interactive late night screenings.

In the film, “Fasten your garter belt and relive the time-warping, gender-bending cult classic! When a newly engaged couple’s (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) car breaks down on a rainy night, they wind up in the creepy castle of Dr. Frank-n-Furter (Tim Curry). There, they have an adventure that will thrill you, chill you, and fulfill you like never before!”

The cult musical was created/written by Richard O’Brien and directed by Jim Sharman.

‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ original logo

The 10-month restoration project,...

For 50 years, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has asked fans young and old to give themselves over to absolute pleasure, and this summer, the legacy of Richard O’Brien’s classic cult musical movie will be celebrated accordingly. The Walt Disney Studios Restoration team has overseen a 4K Ultra HD restoration of the film, which will play theatrically this summer in honor of its original 1975 premiere before a Blu-ray release.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was originally distributed by 20th Century Fox in the United States, and is thus now owned by the Mouse, following the 2019 acquisition of the legendary studio. According to an official release, the new restoration took 10 months to complete, and “included a meticulous digital scan and preservation process that ensures every frame of the cult classic is presented with unprecedented clarity and vibrancy. The restoration also features a newly mixed Dolby Atmos audio track, bringing enhanced depth...

A new 4K Ultra HD restoration of The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been struck and will be released in theatres across the U.S. to mark the film’s 50th anniversary.

The cult classic has been restored over 10 months by the Walt Disney Studios Restoration team. The company has said the restoration included a meticulous digital scan and preservation process that ensures every frame of the film is presented with “unprecedented clarity and vibrancy.” The restoration also features a newly mixed Dolby Atmos audio track.

“It’s a privilege to help preserve the legacy of a film that has meant so much to so many,” said Kevin Schaeffer, Disney’s Director of Restoration and Library Management.

“Bringing The Rocky Horror Picture Show to life in 4K allows us to honor its bold, genre-defying spirit and ensure that audiences – both longtime fans and first-time viewers – can experience it as it was originally intended,...

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is ready to do the time warp again. IndieWire can announce that the beloved 1975 cult classic is getting a 4K remastering and theatrical re-release in honor of its 50th anniversary.

Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick star as a straight laced engaged couple who stumble into a castle after their car breaks down during a storm. While there, they become more than well acquainted with their host Dr. Frank-n-Furter, iconically played by Tim Curry. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was based on the musical play by Richard O’Brien; director Jim Sharman cowrote the film version with O’Brien, while Michael White and Lou Adler produced.

The film has made history as the longest-running theatrical release of all time with midnight reenactments and sing a longs across the globe.

“When ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ was first released, no one thought it would be around very long let alone…...

Fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be ready to do the time warp again with the newly restored film.

The beloved cult-classic movie has been newly restored and remastered in 4K Ultra HD to mark the 50th anniversary of its initial release. The 10-month project was overseen by the Walt Disney Studios Restoration team ahead of theatrical events and a Blu-ray release to be announced later in the year, with the version set to include a new anniversary logo for the film.

This restoration of The Rocky Horror Picture Show involved a digital scan and preservation process to ensure the clarity of each frame. Additionally, the version includes a newly mixed Dolby Atmos audio track, with the original mono audio also being fully restored for fans who want to hear the classic soundtrack as it originally premiered upon its domestic release on Sept. 25, 1975.

“It’s a privilege to...

At its core, cult phenomenon “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is a movie about conservative values versus transgression. The audience surrogates, Brad (asshole!) and Janet (slut!), are two naïve virgins and the living embodiment of the word “stuffy” who are thrown into a world of mad scientist transvestites, hunky Frankensteins, and alien butlers and maids. Sure, the kinky, queer world the two squares fall into is dangerous, but it’s also a lot of fun, and “Rocky Horror” makes it clear that it’s also liberating for the young virgins to escape their conservative world, don some fishnet tights, and embrace their inner freak.

“Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror” is a documentary that loudly, and proudly, celebrates the freaks and the misfits who have found solace in the rock ‘n roll musical film since its 1975 premiere. And yet, it fits more in the “square” category than it should.

In our age of instant nostalgia, a big question for any documentarian or oral historian is how soon to take a look back at a beloved property.

Do it too soon and you’ll have more participants available, but with so little distance or reflection that you might as well be making a promotional Epk.

Do it too late and none of your first-hand sources will be available, so you might as well be making a shoebox diorama.

Watching Linus O’Brien’s Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, a new documentary launching out of SXSW, my most frequently thought was that — actual quality of the film notwithstanding — it’s an absolute blessing to be getting this examination of the Rocky Horror phenomenon at this particular moment in time.

Released tied to the 50th anniversary of the Rocky Horror Picture Show film, Strange Journey benefits to no small degree from the presence of O’Brien,...

It was only supposed to run for a few weeks at a small experimental space upstairs at London’s Royal Court Theatre. But somehow, 50 years after “The Rocky Horror Show” first debuted, it is still attracting crowds. Its passionate fans supported the show during its transfers to the West End and Broadway, as well as after Hollywood beckoned and a film version of the musical was produced. In fact, there’s probably a midnight screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” playing at a theater near you this weekend.

“Nobody thought it was going to be a hit,” admits its author and songwriter Richard O’Brien, an out-of-work actor who combined an interest in science-fiction, B-movies and glam rock into an enduring musical smash. (He also played Riff Raff in the film.) “Nobody was trying to make it big. We were just there to have fun. It’s really just a...

Neil Young has announced an extensive summer tour in 2025 with his new band, the chrome hearts. Kicking off in June and running through September, the “love earth world tour” features dates in both Europe and North America.

the chrome hearts feature Young alongside Spooner Oldham (Farfisa organ), Micah Nelson (guitar and vocal), Corey McCormick (bass and vocal), and Anthony LoGerfo (drums). They’ll be performing material from an upcoming, as-yet-unannounced album that Young and the chrome hearts recently completed with producers Lou Adler and John Hanlon. They recently previewed the album with lead single “big change.”

A ticket pre-sale for members of Neil Young Archives begins Tuesday, February 25th, with a Live Nation pre-sale following on Thursday, February 27th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster (use code Duet). A public on-sale will then take place on Friday, February 28th at 10:00 a.m. local time.

In an effort...

Neil Young and his new band, the Chrome Hearts, are hitting the road this summer for an extensive world tour in support of their upcoming LP, Talkin’ to the Trees. The tour kicks off June 18 in Rättvik, Sweden, and wraps up Sept. 15 in Los Angeles. A 48-hour presale for members of the Neil Young Archives begins Feb. 25. The general on-sale starts Feb. 28.

“Music unites!” Young wrote on his official website. “We will be there with you! Join us as we celebrate the Summer of Democracy. Old songs and new songs.

Dave’s not here, man. However, what Is here is the trailer for the newest Cheech & Chong movie, which is also a documentary. The trailer would humorously refer to itself as a “movie-mentary.” Directed and produced by David Bushell and Robbi Chong, the latest project involving the popular stoner comedians reflects on many of the duo’s exploits as well as working in a new adventure into one experience to help send two best buds out with a bang.

Here’s the official logline for Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie courtesy of Keep Smokin’ and David Bushell:

“Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie defies documentary expectations, offering a wildly imaginative take on genre convention; a true-life tale told through a mix of animation and archival madness, all underscored by a classic cinematic road trip comedy. Tracing the enduring legacy of pioneering comics Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, the film features interviews,...

Keep Smokin’ has released the trailer for “Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie,” a buddy comedy-documentary hybrid chronicling the career of the iconic stoner duo.

The film’s official logline reads: “‘Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie’ defies documentary expectations, offering a wildly imaginative take on genre convention; a true-life tale told through a mix of animation and archival madness, all underscored by a classic cinematic road trip comedy. Tracing the enduring legacy of pioneering comics Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, the film features interviews, sketches, and never-before-seen footage spanning the duo’s five-decade career. The result is an unlikely story of friendship and fame, turmoil and defiance, rebellion and ultimately — redemption.”

In the trailer, we see Marin and Chong driving through the desert in a black Cadillac with a marijuana leaf hood ornament. “You sure we are going the right way?” Marin asks. “We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere,...

Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie, a feature-length documentary about stoner comedy duo Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin, has received its theatrical release date.

Directed and produced by David Bushell, the film will open in limited theaters on April 20th ahead of its nationwide release on April 25th. Besides starring the titular actors, the doc features record producer Lou Adler, who directed the duo’s first movie, 1978’s Up in Smoke.

Here’s the official logline: “Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie defies documentary expectations, offering a wildly imaginative take on genre convention; a true-life tale told through a mix of animation and archival madness, all underscored by a classic cinematic road trip comedy. Tracing the enduring legacy of pioneering comics Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, the film features interviews, sketches, and never-before-seen footage spanning the duo’s five-decade career. The result is an unlikely story of friendship and fame, turmoil and defiance,...

Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a $1 million donation to Los Angeles fire relief on Tuesday.

“I don’t like when companies or rich people ask their fans to make their donations for them,” the actor wrote on social media. His donation will be split between the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the California Fire Foundation and the L.A. chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Schwarzenegger also acknowledged that many of his fans have asked him how they can help, and he is therefore selling a shirt based on the knockoff bodybuilding T-shirts that many vendors sell on the Venice Boardwalk.

The Terminator star will donate 100 percent of the shirt’s proceeds to the same three organizations as his personal donation. Schwarzenegger is one of many to chip in big dollar signs for Los Angeles fire relief; DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife Marilyn pledged $5 million to the Motion Picture & Television Foundation on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said Monday afternoon that firefighters successfully extinguished a fire in Griffith Park.

The Lafd said the brush fire was reported at 1:02 p.m. and involved “light grass burning into medium brush on slope.”

Firefighters were on the scene working to “quickly control” the fire, which was south of Griffith Observatory. According to the Los Angeles Times, smoke from the fire could be seen from nearby in Hollywood.

A subsequent update from the Lafd said the fire was fully extinguished in 31 minutes and impacted a quarter of an acre. “All threatened structures were successfully defended and undamaged,” according to the Lafd.

An arson suspect has been taken into custody. No evacuations were ordered.

Griffith Park is home to such L.A. landmarks as Griffith Observatory, the Greek Theatre, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Hollywood Sign. It also contains the Travel Town Museum as well as a merry-go-round.

Neil Young recently teamed up with Micah Nelson, Spooner Oldham, and Promise of the Real’s Corey McCormick and Anthony Logerfo for a new band dubbed neil young and the chrome hearts, and today, the group has unveiled their debut single, “big change.”

Co-produced by Young and Lou Adler, “big change” is a guitar-driven, hard-hitting rock song with politically-charged lyrics forewarning listeners of the titular “change,” which “could be bad” or “could be great,” according to Young’s impassioned wail. Underneath, the power of the band comes together with a raw, uproarious energy, conveying the urgency of the times with a timeless, familiar grit.

Stream “big change” below.

After collaborating with Micah Nelson (Willie Nelson’s son) for several years, Young debuted the chrome hearts project at Farm Aid last year. Now, the band is expected to tour in 2025, but no dates have been confirmed, with the exception of Glastonbury 2025 — which Young pulled out of,...

Days before Donald Trump takes the Oath of Office, Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts have dropped a fiery new song, “Big Change.” “Big change is comin,'” Young sings. “You know what you gotta do/Big change is comin’/Could be bad and it could be good.”

The song is the first preview of Talkin’ To The Trees, the upcoming LP by Young and the Chrome Hearts that was recorded last year at Shangri-La studios in Malibu, California, with producer Lou Adler. It’s the first Young album since 2022’s World Record,...

As wildfires continue to ravage areas of Los Angeles, thousands have tragically lost their homes, including several Hollywood stars.

The fire started Tuesday in Pacific Palisades, before spreading to parts of Malibu and Santa Monica overnight. Though the Palisades and Eaton fires were at zero containment for days, as of Monday, the Palisades Fire was 14 percent contained, while The Eaton fire in Altadena was roughly one-third contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Kenneth Fire, which scorched 1,052 acres near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, was fully contained; so was the Hurst fire, which burned 779 acres in the area around Sylmar.

On Wednesday night, another fire, named the Sunset Fire, broke out in the Hollywood Hills, endangering the iconic landmark the Hollywood Bowl, among other tourist destinations. On Thursday morning, all evacuation orders were lifted after firefighters got the blaze under control. Also later Wednesday night,...

Even though Joshua Jackson’s home was destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires, the actor says he feels “incredibly lucky.”

“First and most importantly, all the people closest to me affected by the fire are Ok,” he said in a statement shared via his rep. “My daughter, my family, my neighbors all made it out safely. Sadly my beautiful home did not survive the fires. But today, I feel incredibly lucky to be surrounded by the people I love.”

Jackson’s Topanga Canyon home, which he bought in 2001, was one of those destroyed by the Palisades Fire, which broke out Tuesday morning. It has burned through some 23,000 acres.

At least 24 people have died in the fires, with 16 more missing. The biggest fires are the Palisades Fire, which is near Brentwood, and the Eaton Fire. As of Sunday morning, 11 percent of the Palisades fire and 27 percent of the Eaton fire had been contained.

The catastrophic Pacific Palisades fire has destroyed the family home of Sundance Institute’s beloved founding senior director of artist programs Michelle Satter and her husband David Latt, a veteran Hollywood writer and producer.

Satter shared the tragic news on Instagram Thursday by reposting details first shared by the couple’s son, Franklin Latt, a high-profile CAA agent who serves as co-head of the powerhouse agency’s motion picture talent department.

“Our family home was lost to the fire and hometown completely devastated,” revealed Franklin Latt, himself a beloved figure in the business and rep to countless stars including Meryl Streep, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zendaya, Pedro Pascal, Charlize Theron, Viola Davis and Elizabeth Olsen. “Thankfully we’re safe. So many have lost everything and need support. Let’s all lead with love.”

Added Satter in her follow-up post: “Our heart goes out to everyone who’s experiencing loss during this devastating time in our city.

A house in Altadena that was featured in Max’s Hacks is among the properties destroyed in the Eaton Fire.

The 1915 Spanish Colonial revival mansion, on East Palm Street in Altadena, burned down in the fire, sources confirm. The house was featured in seasons two and three of Hacks as Deborah Vance’s (Jean Smart) “side mansion” in Los Angeles. The character makes her primary home in Las Vegas.

The house was also used as a location for Hulu’s Marvel series Runaways several years ago.

The Eaton Fire is the second largest of several wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of acres and destroyed thousands of homes, businesses and other buildings in Los Angeles County this week. According to Cal Fire, the Eaton Fire was just 3 percent contained as of early Friday afternoon and had likely damaged or destroyed more than 7,000 structures.

Several other L.A. landmarks related...

Anthony Hopkins is among the Los Angeles area residents who lost their homes to the Palisades Fire, a source confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

THR has learned that Hopkins and his wife owned two houses in the Palisades, both of which have burned down.

In photos obtained by People magazine, the Pacific Palisades home of the Welsh actor can also be seen burned to the ground with only concrete pillars still standing and a stone pathway at the property.

This is not the first time the actor has endured a property loss due to flames. In 2000, the Oscar winner reportedly lost a home in London to a fire. Meanwhile, in 2018 his Pacific Palisades home narrowly escaped the Woolsey Fire, according to TMZ. The outlet also reported that the actor has been in the U.K. this week.

Hopkins is one of the myriad Hollywood stars who have tragically lost their homes.

Jack Nicholson made a rare photo appearance in his daughter Lorraine Nicholson’s recent holiday Instagram post. The shot reportedly marks the legendary actor’s first public photo since early 2023, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

Nicholson was last photographed in his happy place, courtside at a Los Angeles Lakers game he attended with his son. Nicholson has been a fixture at Lakers games for decades. The Easy Rider and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest actor now appears in a photo with his daughter Lorraine, who posted a carousel of Instagram holiday pics. Jack and Lorraine are seen together in the Instagram post below, captioned: “the giving season.”

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Lorraine Nicholson (@lnicholson)

The photo appears to have been taken at Nicholson’s home. On the bookshelf in the background, two of Jack's Oscars can be seen along with several of the acclaimed...

Nicholson is an actor so iconic, he’s sometimes referred to simply as “Jack.” The star of classics such as The Shining, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Chinatown, Batman, The Witches of Eastwick, The Departed and As Good As It Gets is certainly enjoying his retirement and continues to turn down roles. Lou Adler, a veteran record producer who is a close friend of Nicholson’s, revealed a couple of years ago, “A friend of mine wanted to put him in a movie. And he had a conversation with him. But Jack says, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ He goes, ‘You know what I did today? I sat under a tree and I read a book.’” Adler laughed, saying, “That sounds like Jack.” Then, he added that Jack is just “doing whatever he really wants to do.”

Nicholson’s public appearances are rare nowadays, even his appearances...

Neil Young has backed away from plans to perform at England’s massive Glastonbury Festival this summer. “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs,” Young wrote in an open letter on the Neil Young Archives. “We were told the BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot for things we were not interested in. It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.

“We...

Three days after posting a rare live performance of the title track to his 2000 LP Silver and Gold as part of his Fireside Sessions video series, Neil Young dug deeper into his past and broke out “Pardon My Heart” in a new clip. The song appears on Young’s 1975 LP Zuma, but hadn’t been played live in 50 years. Click here to check it out.

The mournful “Pardon My Heart” was first heard live on May 16, 1974, when Young played a surprise late-night set at New York’s Bottom Line after a Ry Cooder show.

An Eddie Murphy classic, a landmark horror flick, and a timeless Eighties romance are among the films joining the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for preservation.

Twenty-five films were added to the registry this year, including Beverly Hills Cop, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Dirty Dancing. Other major titles include Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, David Fincher’s Facebook origin story The Social Network, Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke, and the Coen Brothers’ Best Picture-winner No Country for Old Men.

The Film Registry class of...

Marijuana is legal in 38 states, and now Cheech & Chong are in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. The country is going to pot!

Up in Smoke (1978), the first feature from Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, is one of the 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically” motion pictures selected for preservation this year, it was announced Tuesday.

Among those also making the cut are Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Invaders From Mars (1953), The Miracle Worker (1962), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Dirty Dancing (1987), Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), No Country for Old Men (2007) and The Social Network (2010).

Five picks include prominent Hispanic artists or themes: American Me (1992), Mi Familia (1995) — both featuring the work of Edward James Olmos — Up in Smoke, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Spy Kids (2001).

It’s a great day for Marin, who also starred in Spy Kids,...

Hollywood anarchist and noted nudist Jack Nicholson saw his career flash before his eyes in the mid-1980s as the era’s most popular movies totally confounded him. In a 1986 interview with The New York Times, Nicholson was asked if he felt “like a creative person trapped in an uncreative age in the industry.”

''Well, you know,” Nicholson replied, “last night I saw — what’s that movie? Ferris something?”

Was Nicholson referring to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Anyone? Anyone?

“Well, that movie made me feel totally irrelevant to anything that any audience could want, and 119 years old,” he explained.

To make matters worse, it felt like the audience was on John Hughes’ side of the argument. “Believe me, everyone else watching it liked it,” he said. “And you know, I literally walked out of there thinking my days are numbered. These people are trying to kill me.”

Imagine what...

Jack Nicholson, 87, hasn't officially retired from acting, but he also doesn't do it anymore. In 2013, Nicholson spoke with Vanity Fair about rumors of his retirement, and he merely wanted to say that he had retired from incessant flirting, not acting. He did admit, however, that he wasn't passionately driven to put himself out in the world anymore. Nicholson's good friend Lou Adler (the famed record producer) told Marc Maron in 2023 (via The Wrap) that Nicholson had been contacted several times about appearing in multiple film projects since 2010, but that Nicholson turned them all down. It seems that the actor would rather sit under a tree and read a book. Which is, of course, his right. With 80 film credits and multiple Academy Awards, not to mention worldwide fame, Nicholson has earned it. So, although he's never announced his retirement, Nicholson is more or less retired.

And if Nicholson isn't going to...

Nickelodeon fans of a certain generation might instantly recognize Victoria Justice from throwback series like Zoey 101 and Victorious. And like many of her co-stars whom Justice says she still stays in touch with Justice is still keeping busy, with a new movie out this month that sees her tackling the thriller genre just in time for Halloween. MovieWeb caught up with Justice to learn more about Depravity, which also stars veteran performer Dermot Mulroney. She also dished about some of her other past notable work, such as her Rocky Horror Picture Show TV event that aired on Fox in 2016. We discovered it was a match made in heaven for a die-hard fan like Justice.

"I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time when I was in fifth grade... and I was like, 'Whoa, like, this is the weirdest, coolest thing ever,'" she said. "I'd never seen anything like it,...

When we talk about movies being hard to categorize or even succinctly summarize, this movie is the poster child for that statement. Almost 50 years on and that still holds true but how about is it good? Does a movie need to be put in a specific area or even be able to be explained to still be good? The Rocky Horror Picture Show is in a category all by itself and yet has had spinoffs of sorts and on-stage revivals since its inception and shows no signs of slowing down. I’m not even sure how the introduction to such a movie should be fleshed out so take a jump to the left, a step to the right, put your hands on your hips and bring your knees in tight. We are about to take a time warp and see if The Rocky Horror Picture Show still stands the Test of Time.

I’ll never think about coyotes the same way again.

That was a big takeaway from the silly, weird first night of John Mulaney’s multi-night Netflix special, “Everybody’s in LA.” The week-long residency/miniseries/experiment was ostensibly created as additional promo for Netflix’s own Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival in Los Angeles, which is going on right now. Thirty+ comedians are in town with something to promote — why not take advantage of it by giving Mulaney an hour to chat up his friends, the thinking goes, while Netflix continues to play around with live programming?

Based on the first episode, which aired May 1 (additional episodes will air May 6 through 10), the program has the feel of a late-night public access show (complimentary). After kicking things off with an opening monologue full of great LA jokes — “The city was officially founded in 1842 as a place for improv students...

There’s a moment in the first episode of Everybody’s in L.A., John Mulaney’s delightfully chaotic live Netflix special, in which Mulaney asks special guest Jerry Seinfeld why he decided to make his Pop-Tarts origin movie Unfrosted (which was released on — you guessed it — Netflix the same day Mulaney’s special aired, because there’s nothing more on-brand for a special about Los Angeles culture than cross-promotional synergy) .

“I don’t know. Because they let me,” Seinfeld responds, referring to Netflix. “Probably the same reason why you’re doing this.

Los Angeles is not the first city fans would associate with comedian John Mulaney. That would be Chicago, his hometown and the backdrop to innumerable childhood anecdotes in his stand-up act, or New York, where he broke out as a writer on “Saturday Night Live” and shot a special at Radio City Music Hall. But L.A. is where Mulaney now lives; it’s also currently home to the second iteration of Netflix Is a Joke, a massive, weeklong comedy festival organized by the streaming service as a show of genre dominance. (Netflix stand-up head Robbie Praw used to run programming at Montreal’s vaunted Just for Laughs event and has essentially created a West Coast version.) And so we have “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA,” a weeklong special event combining studio segments, pre-taped sketches and man-on-the-street interviews into a sort of pop-up talk show.

“We’re only doing six episodes,...

In Robin Hardy's supremely creepy 1973 cult picture "The Wicker Man," a cop named Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote island called Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The citizens of Summerisle are secretive and strange and still abide by ancient Celtic religious rites. Howie, a devout Christian, is put off by their pagan weirdness. During his investigation, Howie stays at a local inn, The Green Man, overseen by Mr. McGregor (Lindsay Kemp) and his comely daughter Willow. Willow is sexually forward with Howie, something else he finds discomforting.

Later that night, while Howie attempts to sleep, Willow strips nude in her own room and gyrates seductively against the wall that neighbors Howie's. Howie can't see or hear it, but he seems to sense something strange is happening. Is she casting a spell of some kind?

It turns out that the nude body audiences saw dancing wasn't Ekland at all,...

Cheech and Chong persist in the popular culture mainly as a metonym for stoner humor, but as any comedy fan knows, even the dumbest jokes — the one’s that can only be enjoyed while baked — don’t just appear out of smoke-filled air. “Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie,” a new documentary chronicling the eponymous duo’s meteoric rise in the 1970s, emphasizes the sheer amount of work and determination it took to become one of America’s most popular comedy acts. Long before Seth Rogen was born, Cheech and Chong were the hardest-working potheads in Hollywood, even if they played exaggerated burnouts on screen and stage.

Alas, every success story comes with its fair share of complications. “Last Movie” also explores the financial headaches and managerial difficulties Cheech and Chong weathered at the height of their success, as well as the creative differences that ultimately drove the two men apart.

“Cheech and I were on the Paramount lot after we’d done the movie, and we’re kind of trying to figure out what we were going to do next— how we were going to get another movie going,” remembers Tommy Chong of the weeks following the 1978 release of Up in Smoke, the first film from him and comedy partner Cheech Marin. “And Warren Beatty, pulls up in his convertible. He took off his sunglasses and looked at us and he goes, ‘You guys have no idea what you’ve done.’ And we looked at each other like thinking, ‘Oh, what did we do?’ What we did was we pulled a movie out of thin air.”

Up in Smoke, which was made independently by principals with no filmmaking experience, grossed over $100 million at the box office, simultaneously launching and proving the commercial value of the genre, all in one go.

Director Denny Tedesco previously scored a hit among music fans with his 2008 film “The Wrecking Crew,” a documentary about the battalion of 1960s studio musicians whose names were little known even among the cognoscenti, until these unknown soldiers started to quietly get their due decades later. Although it took another 15 years after that film to come to fruition, Tedesco had an easy go-to for an unofficial sequel. “Immediate Family” focuses on a smaller cadre of players that soon came to dominate the L.A. recording scene and who were, for a time, known collectively as the Section. One thing the earlier movie had that this one doesn’t was a sense of injustice corrected, because let’s face it — in the 1970s, everybody knew their names.

Well, let’s not exaggerate — maybe not quite everyone was devoted to fondling LP packaging and devouring it for information, even in the physical media era.

In The Wrecking Crew, Denny Tedesco lovingly chronicled a legendary collective of musicians, his father among them, who appeared on countless studio recordings in the 1960s, revered within the business but unsung in the public sphere. By contrast, the names of the four players he profiles in his new documentary appeared on nearly every record they worked on. Other musicians sought them out, fan bases were born, and careers flourished. And, it turns out, besides being extraordinary musical talents, they’re exceptionally charismatic interview subjects — sincere, soulful and effortlessly funny raconteurs.

Receiving a one-night theatrical release Dec. 12, three days before it’s available on demand, Immediate Family is an affectionate and insightful group portrait and a sweet jolt of nostalgia for boomers — but more than that, it’s time well spent with delightful subjects who played crucial roles in shaping the popular music of a ground-shifting era.

As Billy Bob Thornton...

As prolific as Neil Young continues to be, much of the veteran singer-songwriter’s contemporary output has consisted of repackaged old material in the form of live albums and studio outtakes. His latest, Before and After, continues in this vein, as every track has appeared, in one form or another, on a previous release.

None of that is to say that Before and After is inessential. Young is a conceptual thinker, a fact that his strict adherence to live recording and spartan production techniques has often disguised. On Before and After, however, the concept is front and center, and the intimacy of the recordings emphasizes what Young was trying to achieve rather than obscures it. Barring some keys provided by Bob Rice, these recordings feature Young singing and playing alone in a room, including some awkward fumbling around on a pump organ.

Opener “I’m the Ocean” in particular is served well by this approach.