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According to Deadline, Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung is in talks to helm the Ocean’s prequel movie for Warner Bros.

The current screenplay is by Carrie Solomon and is based on characters created by George Clayton Johnson & Jack Golden Russell, but the plot is being kept under wraps. Margot Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, is producing the project. At one time, it was reported that Robbie would star in the film alongside Ryan Gosling, but current reports state that no cast has been set.

Jay Roach (The Roses) was once attached to direct the film, but it seems he’s off the project. Previous reports stated that the film would be set in 1960s Europe and feature Robbie and Gosling as the parents of Danny (George Clooney) and Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock).

Related Ocean’s Eleven: The Greatest Heist Movie Ever Made?

Chung had a big success with...

While the comedy career of Andrew Dice Clay wasn’t exactly over in the 2000s, the days of selling out Madison Square Garden were in the rearview mirror. He didn’t, however, appreciate being reminded of that reality when he lasted about one profanity-laced minute on CNN.

Trouble began the moment the interview started. “Let’s talk a little bit about where your career has been,” offered the CNN anchorman, a seemingly innocuous question unless, like the Diceman, you sense an implication that the comic was no longer on top.

“I can’t believe this,” shot back Clay.

You were a headline guy, said CNN Guy, trying again.

“I’m still a headline guy!” Clay shot back.

Nonstop success didn’t fit CNN Guy’s narrative, who suggested that Clay had “popped out” for a few years but was now on the comeback trail. After all, he said, the comic...

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A Christmas episode of "The Twilight Zone"? As unlikely a combination as that sounds, it happened in the show's second season: "The Night of the Meek." Henry Corwin (Art Carney) is a mall Santa who loses his job after showing up drunk. Corwin's drinking isn't from apathy, though; quite the opposite. He cares too much and it breaks his heart to see so many living in poverty on Christmas.

Henry Corwin wants to see "the meek inherit the Earth," as the Bible once promised they would. Stumbling through the city (and still in costume), Corwin comes across a bottomless bag that can conjure any gift someone requests. So, he takes it on himself to be Santa for real. At the very end of the episode, once all the gift-giving is done, he stumbles onto a reindeer-pulled sleigh and an...

Robert Benton has died at the age of 92.The Oscar-winning director - who was best known for writing and directing the 1979 drama movie 'Kramer vs. Kramer' - has passed away, with Marisa Forzano, his longtime assistant, confirming the news to the New York Times newspaper.Benton was the art director at Esquire magazine in the early 60s, before he became part of the film industry with the help of acclaimed screenwriter David Newman.Benton once explained in an interview: "I had been working as an art director at Esquire and I got fired."I decided to write a screenplay. I am dyslexic. I cannot spell or punctuate. I knew a young editor at Esquire, a wonderful writer, David Newman. I sold him on the glamorous life of the Hollywood screenwriter."Benton wrote his first screenplay with Newman for 'Bonnie and Clyde', the 1967 biographical crime film that...

Robert Benton, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter turned director who co-wrote Bonnie and Clyde and directed Kramer vs. Kramer, has passed away at 92. His longtime assistant and manager, Marisa Forzano, told The New York Times that Benton died on Sunday in his Manhattan home. Benton’s influence in Hollywood is vast, with writing credits for such classics as the 1984 Period Drama Places in the Heart and Richard Donner’s Superman (with Mario Puzo and Leslie Newman), starring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, and Gene Hackman.

With Places in the Heart, a coming-of-age drama Robert Benton wrote and directed, the filmmaker shared an autobiographical epic based on his grandmother’s arduous experiences during the Depression in Texas. Sally Field, Lindsay Crouse, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, John Malkovich, and Danny Glover lead the 1930s-set film, which focuses on a widow with two small children who tries to save her small 40-acre farm with the...

Three-time Oscar winner Robert Benton, the acclaimed filmmaker behind Kramer vs. Kramer, Places in the Heart, andNobody’s Fool, has died at the age of 92. His death was confirmed Sunday in Manhattan by his longtime assistant and manager, Marisa Forzano, as reported by The New York Times. Benton's career achievements, across multiple decades and disciplines, have made him a legend of American cinema. He won Academy Awards for both directing and writing Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), as well as for his screenplay for Places in the Heart (1984). He was also an Oscar-nominated co-writer of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which is quite the legacy to leave behind.

Benton was born in Waxahachie, Texas, and earned a Bfa from the University of Texas before beginning a master’s degree at Columbia. He supported himself as a cartoonist before eventually landing a job at Esquire, where he served as art director from 1958 to 1964, and it...

Three-time Oscar-winning director and screenwriter Robert Benton, who helmed the 1979 best picture Oscar winner “Kramer vs. Kramer” as well as such films as “The Late Show,” “Places in the Heart” and “Nobody’s Fool” and collaborated on the screenplay for “Bonnie and Clyde,” died Sunday in Manhattan. He was 92.

His death was confirmed to the New York Times by his assistant and manager Marisa Forzano.

Benton, who started out as an art director at Esquire magazine, was partnered early on with fellow Esquire alumnus David Newman. They penned the innovative, award-winning 1967 film “Bonnie and Clyde,” which launched both their careers. They gradually diverged as Benton expanded into directing starting with “Bad Company,” starring Jeff Bridges.

After “Kramer,” he continued to turn out dramatic films, which he often wrote as well as directed. He brought Oscar fortune to actors including Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Sally Field, John Malkovich, Jane Alexander and Paul Newman,...

Patty Maloney, an actress whose 30-plus year career included memorable turns on Little House on the Prairie, Syd & Marty Krofft’s Far Out Space Nuts, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and the Star Wars Holiday Special, has died. Her passing was confirmed via a post on the official Syd & Marty Krofft Facebook page. She was 89.

Maloney stood 3 feet 11 inches and weighed about 60 pounds. Her stature and pantomime stills meant she often worked in costume. And work she did, with memorable roles on some of the most popular TV shows of the ’70s an ’80s.

On her first series, the actress played the furry and funny Honk on the Kroffts’ Far Out Space Nuts, a character who spoke only in horn-like honks. The show was a Saturday morning staple for kids in the ’70s, especially via syndication. She also appeared on 13 episodes of The Krofft Superstar Hour and other of the duo’s shows.

Patty Maloney, the 3-foot-11 actress who played the alien Honk on the Sid & Marty Krofft family show Far Out Space Nuts and Chewbacca’s son, Lumpy, on the long-lamented Star Wars Holiday Special, has died. She was 89.

Maloney had suffered several strokes over the years and died Monday in hospice care in Winter Park, Florida, her brother, Dave Myrabo, told The Hollywood Reporter. “For a little person growing up in a big world, she did everything she wanted to do,” he said.

Maloney did lots of work alongside the 3-foot-10 Billy Barty. The two appeared together in the Wizard of Oz feature Under the Rainbow (1981), starring Chevy Chase, and on episodes of Little House on the Prairie, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Trapper John, M.D. and more.

Far Out Space Nuts, starring Bob Denver and Chuck McCann as bumbling maintenance workers turned accidental space travelers, aired for one season (1975-76) on CBS.

There isn’t a more infamous moment in the galaxy far, far away than the release of The Star Wars Holiday Specialin 1978 on ABC, which was met with such historically awful reviews that it was never aired again, and has never been released by Lucasfilm in any official capacity. The two-hour television event featured brief appearances by Star Warscast members such as Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Anthony Daniels, but the story was mostly centered around how Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and his family prepared for the Wookiee holiday of “Life Day” on their home planet of Kashyyyk. Much of the special felt only tangentially related to the Star Wars universe, as it featured appearances by ‘70s stars like Art Carney, Jefferson Starship, Bea Arthur, and Harvey Corman. Although it has still been the subject of ridicule, the creation of The Star Wars Holiday Special is unpacked in the...

Charles Finch fixes his beady eyes on me in that sort of British professorial manner to make it clear that the cocktail soiree followed by dinner that he and Chanel are throwing Saturday night at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge “is not about me meeting some famous people.”

Actually, Finch would’ve made an interesting choice to play James Bond back in the day, but I digress.

The event started out three decades ago as a celebration of international filmmakers and actors “who didn’t have anything to do on a Saturday night” before the Academy Awards “and they’d come and have a plate of pasta,” Finch explains.

However, as much Finch wants to play it down, the event has become a big deal, and every year there’s an unseemly scramble to be included on the guest list.

The trick, though, is that Finch and his...

Time may have passed, but George Clooney is still up to his old shenanigans. Or at least back to playing career criminal Danny Ocean again.

Speaking in an interview with The New York Times, the Academy Award-winning actor teased the latest installment in the long-running franchise, which would serve as a follow-up to “Ocean’s Thirteen.”

“It’s like we’re all too old to do the jobs we used to be able to do,” Clooney said.

Clooney previously spoke of the project in an interview with Uproxx back in December 2023, where he compared the script to the 1979 comedy “Going in Style,” starring George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg. At the Los Angeles premiere of “Wolfs” back in September 2024, he also told E! News that he’d gotten the rest of the old team on board to return.

“We have a really good script,” said Clooney. “Everyone’s read it and ready to do it.

The motion picture carries multiple definitions, depending on who you ask. To some, it’s an art form that’s worth preserving for posterity; for others, it’s entertainment and a means of escapism. Throughout the 1980s, big-budget action-adventure films were all the rage. Many of these action forays featured stars like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the latter of whom starred in a meta-examination of the genre in Last Action Hero. Released in 1993, Last Action Hero blurs the lines between the manufactured world of cinema and the reality that so many audience members are eager to seek refuge from.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose box office appeal has remained relatively consistent for the past few decades, has starred in many films that take place in a wildly exaggerated facsimile of reality. Last Action Hero incorporates elements from The Purple Rose of Cairo and Cinema Paradiso to examine the deep love that...

Tony Roberts, who appeared in Woody Allen films including “Annie Hall” while enjoying a long, bountiful career on Broadway, died Friday due to complications of lung cancer. He was 85 years old.

Roberts’ death was confirmed to The New York Times by his daughter, Nicole Burley.

Roberts appeared in six film directed by Woody Allen: “Play It Again, Sam” (1972), “Annie Hall” (1977), “Stardust Memories” (1980), “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” (1982), “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “Radio Days” (1987).

The actor had a long career on Broadway in which he was twice Tony-nominated: for best actor in a musical in 1968 for “How Now, Dow Jones” and for featured actor in a play in 1969 for Woody Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam.”

Roberts had most recently appeared in the 2017 television film adaptation of “Dirty Dancing.” He had most also appeared on television in a 2010 episode of “Law & Order” in which he played a U.S.

Tony Roberts, the urbane supporting actor known for his collaborations with Woody Allen in six films — including the Oscar best picture winner Annie Hall — and two Broadway plays, died Friday. He was 85.

Roberts died of complications from lung cancer at his home in Manhattan, his daughter, Nicole Burley, told The New York Times.

From Take Her, She’s Mine in 1961 to The Royal Family in 2009, Roberts appeared on Broadway 23 times. In between, he stepped in for Robert Redford in the original production of Neil Simon‘s Barefoot in the Park, directed by Mike Nichols.

In the long-running 1969-70 Broadway hit Play It Again, Sam, written by and starring Allen, Roberts portrayed Dick Christie, whose wife has an affair with his best friend, the magazine writer Allan Felix (Allen).

After Roberts received a best actor Tony nom for his performance, he and Allen reprised their roles for the 1972 movie version at Paramount...

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...

David Leitch could soon be sailing into the Ocean's franchise waters; the fan-favorite action director is reportedly in early talks to helm Ocean's 14. The upcoming feature will mark the first of the franchise films starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney that Steven Soderbergh will not direct. Clooney will also be involved in Ocean's 14, reprising his role as Danny Ocean and serving as a producer.

It's an exciting development for fans of Leitch's work and the series itself, given his previous work directing mega-action flicks like John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, and Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. That last one was a particularly personal one for the director, given his time working as a stuntman (often with Pitt) before becoming a director. He also directed the raucous Bullet Train, which starred Pitt as the unlucky assassin Ladybug. Pitt, though not officially confirmed, is expected...

“The Fall Guy” and “Deadpool 2” director David Leitch is in talks to direct “Ocean’s 14” for Warner Bros. Discovery, according to an insider with knowledge of the project.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt are expected to return. The duo last starred in “Ocean’s 13,” back in 2007.

“We have a really good script for another ‘Ocean’s’ now, so we may end up doing another one. It’s actually a great script,” Clooney previosuly said. While he was reluctant to call it “Ocean’s Fourteen,” he did say, “The idea is kind of like ‘Going In Style,’” referencing the 1979 film written and directed by Martin Brest, starring George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg, about three elderly friends who decide to break the monotony of their lives by pulling off a heist.

Steven Soderbergh directed Clooney’s three “Ocean’s” movies. The franchise was revived in 2018’s “Ocean’s 8,” an...

The InSneider has reported that David Leitch is in early talks to direct Ocean’s 14, the latest installment of the heist franchise featuring George Clooney and Brad Pitt alongside an all-star ensemble. It was previously reported that Conclave director Edward Berger was being courted to develop the film, but it appears that didn’t work out.

George Clooney actually teased another Ocean’s project in 2023, saying, “We have a really good script for another Ocean’s now, so we may end up doing another one. It’s actually a great script.” The actor wouldn’t spill any other details, only to say that “the idea is kind of Going in Style.” The film Clooney refers to is a 1979 heist comedy starring George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg as three friends who decide to rob a bank. The film was remade in 2017 by Zach Braff, with Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin,...

As 2024 comes to a close, we here at JoBlo.com would like to take a moment to pay tribute to some of the people who sadly passed away this year. Our deepest respect goes out to everyone in the industry we have lost, and our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of those who died in 2024. These talented individuals will always be remembered for their impact on the world of film and television.

In Memory Of…

David Soul

David Soul died on January 4th at the age of 80. The actor was best known for playing Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson on Starsky & Hutch alongside Paul Michael Glaser.

Although Starsky & Hutch would become one of the most iconic shows of the ’70s, Soul and Glaser had no clue it would become as successful as it did. “We didn’t have a clue it was going to be so successful.

When comedy writer Bruce Vilanch got the four-word pitch from his agent in 1978 — Star Wars Holiday Special — it seemed like a very bad idea. “But I ignored that,” he writes in his upcoming book, It Seemed Like A Bad Idea At the Time: The Worst TV Shows In History and Other Things I Wrote. “Actually, it was no worse than any other bad idea that was being floated around for a pre-Thanksgiving holiday show.”

The Star Wars Holiday Special, however, was a notoriously bad idea. Vilanch takes his fair share of the blame. After all, "it was 1978. There were a lot of chemical additives circulating.” But he also points to George Lucas as a reason the special turned out to be outrageously terrible. Lucas had written outlines for several Star Wars tales, most of which he’d planned to make into movies. A few stories were committed to other media,...

Chicago – It’s last minute gift time! Let’s start with something perfect for a Star Wars fan. A long time ago (1978) in an America far far away, the one and only showing of the “Star Wars Holiday Special” took place on CBS-tv. The infamous show is chronicled in a new book “A Disturbance in the Force,” written by Steve Kozak.

The full title is “A Disturbance in the Force: How And Why the Stars Wars Holiday Special Happened” and Kozak takes a deep dive into the history and audacity of how this special came to be … which is of this date still not acknowledged as part of the canon by the Lucas/Disney confluence, even though it had most of the original cast participating and was the first story beyond “A New Hope.”

‘A Disturbance in the Force’ by Steve Kozak

Photo credit: Applause Books

On November 17th, 1978, CBS...

There is perhaps no bigger calamity in the Star Wars franchise than the infamous 1978 airing of The Star Wars Holiday Special on ABC. Aimed at being a “variety show” that celebrated the Wookiee holiday of “Life Day,” The Star Wars Holiday Special featured original cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Peter Mayhew alongside a series of guest stars that included Jefferson Starship, Bea Arthur, Art Carney, and Harbey Korman. The special was met with such toxic responses that it was never aired again, and Lucasfilm has been unwilling to make it available (with the exception of an animated segment featuring Boba Fett that aired on Disney+). Although Lucasfilm couldn’t be blamed for wanting to skip the holiday season, a unique Star Wars holiday special was released only months after The Empire Strikes Back had become a record-breaking success.

From Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump to Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer, some of the best Oscar-winning actors were given plenty of screen time to shine in their Academy-favorite performances. Its always impressive when an actor wins an Oscar with limited screen time, like Anthony Hopkins for The Silence of the Lambs or Beatrice Straight for just five minutes in Network, but theyre much more likely to catch the Academys attention if theyre on-screen for the overwhelming majority of the movie. The more screen time an actor has, the more opportunities they have to wow Oscar voters.

The Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress tend to go to movies that essentially function as a showcase for their lead actor. Joaquin Phoenix is on-screen for all but 19 minutes of Joker (and a few of those minutes are end credits). Even though the opening act of Forrest Gump covers the characters childhood,...

In "The Twilight Zone," the twists always come at the end. Our protagonists -- soldiers, criminals, salesmen, astronauts, movie stars, and more -- spend the majority of the episode wondering exactly what the hell is going on, only for Rod Serling to serve up a curveball of epic, sometimes shocking proportions at episode's end. The series invented and perfected plenty of classic TV twist ending tropes, but it also featured some less guessable twists, like the circumstances surrounding "Five Strangers in Search of An Exit," or the bait-and-switch conclusion to "The Invaders."

In a few rare cases, though, the most surprising part of "The Twilight Zone" comes even later on, when Serling himself closes out the show with his signature concluding sign-off. As the show's creator, head writer, and host, Serling was our guide through the strange and uncanny place he dubbed the Twilight Zone, and he often appeared on...

Born in 1920, Walter Matthau was a celebrated performer on both the stage and screen, known for his gruff, rumpled persona. Let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Matthau turned to acting after serving in the United States Army Air Force during WWII. He became a frequent presence on the small screen with appearances in “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Goodyear Playhouse,” and “The Du Pont Show of the Week” (which brought him an Emmy bid in 1963), to name a few. During this period he also appeared in several films, few of them comedies, including “A Face in the Crowd” (1957) and “Fail Safe” (1964).

At the same time, he gained increasing respect as a stage actor with Tony Award-winning performances in “A Shot in the Dark” (Featured Actor in a Play in 1962) and “The Odd Couple” (Actor in a Play in 1965). It was in the latter role of Oscar Madison,...

Female friendships have been at the center of some of television’s most memorable and iconic shows — from comedy highs to dramatic lows. Here are TV’s Top 10 BFFs.MEGALaverne and Shirley on 'Laverne & Shirley'mega

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! They might be polar opposites, but as roommates and co-workers at Milwaukee’s fictional Shotz Brewery, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) constantly lifted each other’s spirits as they got in and out of trouble!

Ethel and Lucy on 'I Love Lucy'Prime Video/YouTube

In one of the most legendary sitcoms in TV history, Lucille Ball as Lucy and Vivian Vance as Bff Ethel made audiences howl with laughter over their hilarious antics.

Mary and Rhoda on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'mega

The classic opposites attract couple of polite local news producer Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) and her brash best friend and upstairs neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) became a...

The Ocean’s franchise is a hell of a lot of fun, but it’s been 17 years since George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and the rest of the fantastic ensemble cast tackled their last caper. Time to bring it back, baby. In that regard, Deadline has heard that Warner Bros. is still moving forward with Ocean’s 14, with both Clooney and Pitt set to return as Danny Ocean and Robert “Rusty” Ryan. They’re also now courting All Quiet on the Western Front director Edward Berger to helm the project.

As Deadline’s report states, it’s still in the early stages, but Berger’s star is certainly on the rise. All Quiet on the Western Front received numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

George Clooney actually teased another Ocean’s project last year, saying, “We have a really good script for another Ocean’s now,...

by Cláudio Alves

After the dust settles and the rush of euphoria dissipates, an Oscar victory can be cause for woe rather than joy. Sometimes, a win is a loss in the big picture, even something of a curse. The effects may not be immediate or felt in the flesh by the prizewinner. Not in life, at least. It's their legacy that takes the toll. Those considered robbed will always have their defenders, misfortune becoming legend, another kind of validation no less impressive than the little gold man they failed to grasp. But those who the Academy rewarded are a different story. They become villains in recollection, mayhap fools. It's a sad affair because, more often than not, those whom history paints in these unfortunate colors are themselves robbed. The glory of victory isn't theirs to enjoy, merit buried by outrage over injustice.

Such is the case of Art Carney,...

The Emmy Awards grew up on March 7, 1955. For the first time, the ceremony was broadcast nationally on NBC. Steve Allen, the star of “The Tonight Show,” was the host of the 7th annual awards honoring the best of 1954 programming which was telecast from the Moulin Rouge nightclub on Sunset Boulevard.

One of the seminal live dramas of the 1950’s, Reginald Rose’s searing “12 Angry Men,” which aired on CBS “Studio One,” earned the most Emmys that evening winning with three. The taut drama about a jury of a dozen men decided the fate of a young man accused of murder starred Robert Cummings, Franchot Tone, Edward Arnold and Walter Abel. For years, only an incomplete kinescope of the show, which was adapted into the Oscar-nominated 1957 film, existed.

Finally, a complete copy of the show was discovered in 2003. Rose told me in a 1997 L.A. Times interview that he came up...

Beverly Hills Cop, directed by Martin Brest, became the highest-grossing R-rated film for nearly two decades. Martin Brest's career continued to great acclaim thanks to films like Midnight Run and Scent of a Woman. Unfortunately, Gigli became a costly box office disaster, leading to Brest departing Hollywood forever.

Beverly Hills Cop was the second studio film director Martin Brest ever made. It wasn't just the biggest hit of his career; it became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time and held onto that title for nearly two decades before losing it to The Matrix in 1999. More importantly, after producing a moderate hit in the form of the crime caper Going In Style, the success of Beverly Hills Cop transformed Martin Brest into an A-list director.

Four years later, Martin Brest would do the impossible, capturing lightning in a bottle twice with Midnight Run, a cult classic starring Robert De Niro...

With the announcement for the 76th Primetime Emmys set for July 17th, let’s travel back 70 years and revisit the winners of the 6th Emmy Awards held Feb. 11, 1954 at the venerable Hollywood Palladium and telecast on Khj. New categories introduced that year included best new program and supporting actor and actress in a TV series. Prior to 1954, performers were nominated as individuals, but this year the program for which they were nominated was also included. NBC was nominated for 36 Emmys, while CBS placed second with 30 and ABC trailing far behind with just three.

CBS’s cherished “I Love Lucy’ won its second Emmy for best comedy series, while Vivian Vance took home her only Emmy for the show for her supporting role as Ethel Mertz. The other nominees for comedy series were CBS’ “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show,” NBC’s “Mr. Peepers,” CBS’ “Our Miss Brooks,” and CBS “Topper.

Lake George is a standout entry in the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. The film stars Shea Whigham and Carrie Coon and features a blend of deep characterization, intimate pathos, high-stakes action, and physical comedy. The performances of Shea Whigham and Max Casella have garnered attention from critics and audiences, and the film is inspired by classic films like The Late Show and Something Wild.

Shea Whigham and Carrie Coon embark on an unorthodox road trip where nothing is as it seems in Lake George, a standout entry from 2024's Tribeca Film Festival. Whigham stars as Don, a man fresh out of prison and completely out of options. In desperation, he turns to the mob boss who got him in trouble in the first place (Glenn Flesher), who offers him a job: kill his runaway mistress, Phyllis, (Carrie Coon) and get a bunch of money. However, when Don and Phyllis finally meet,...

The 1970s is considered a stellar decade for film – the height of the New Hollywood movement – which makes 1974’s “Chinatown” all the more classic. It is arguably one of the most memorable films to come out of that decade, becoming a defining feature for the era and earning 11 Oscar nominations. The mystery neo-noir is often cited as one of the greatest films of all time, particularly for its script, which won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Now on its 50th anniversary, let’s look back at the awards run of “Chinatown” – written by Robert Towne and directed by Roman Polanski – which was released on June 20, 1974.

The psychological mystery stars Jack Nicholson as private detective J.J. “Jake” Gittes. He is hired by a seemingly wealthy socialite to simply investigate her husband’s extramarital affairs, but gets entangled into a whirlpool hidden beneath the surface involving a deeper and deadlier...

Who is the best male TV star of all time? Our photo gallery above takes on the tough task of ranking the 50 greatest actors and performers. Agree or disagree with our choices?

With over 70 years of television to consider, we had to provide ourselves with a few rules to help simplify things. One of those was that every man in our gallery must have been an ongoing leading star at some point, preferably more often than not. That’s why you will not see such classic supporting actors as Art Carney, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Peter Dinklage and more. We also do not include any news/sports anchors or journalists such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell since they are not performers.

In order to place them in the rankings, we were looking at a combination of quality (top rated shows with the public or critics...

“I felt ashamed of myself for watching. No one should have a chance to see so much desire, so much need for a prize. And so much pain when [it] was not given … I felt disgusted with myself. As though I were attending a public hanging.”

Those were the words of the late Glenda Jackson, as she described to The New York Times her recent experience watching the Academy Awards on television in 1979.

Ironically, it was well after she had already been gifted with two Best Actress Oscars herself. She was not present to accept those honors — for 1970’s “Women in Love” and 1973’s “A Touch of Class.” She was also absent when she was Best Actress-nominated for 1971’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and 1975’s “Hedda.”

See Watch our lively chats with dozens of 2024 Emmy contenders

I have to wonder if Miss Jackson ever watched the now-infamous clip of her winning her...

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...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doesn't always get it right. Actually, you can count on them to just about never get it right.

This is especially true of the lead acting categories, where voters often become prisoners of the moment and vote for the buzziest and/or showiest performance. This is how Al Pacino's chilling depiction of Michael Corleone's descent into pure, dead-eyed evil in "The Godfather Part II" gets passed over in favor of Art Carney's amiable portrayal of a lonely old man hitting the road with his pet cat in "Harry and Tonto." This results in overdue Oscars, which frequently create new injustices — like Denzel Washington's bravura turn as Malcolm X losing to Al Pacino's ceaseless hoo-hahing in "Scent of a Woman," which led to Washington getting his Best Actor trophy for his (admittedly entertaining) grandstanding work in "Training Day" (which cost...

One would think the path to winning an Academy Award is a straightforward process for an actor. Someone gives an all-time great performance, and, as a result, they receive the industry's highest honor for an actor. In reality, though, claiming victory at the Oscars is not this simple. Unfortunately, winning an Oscar is a political endeavor, a competition to see who can put together the best campaign.

Another contributing factor to the unpredictable nature of the Academy Awards is that, historically, they seem to choose the incorrect winners more often than not. It is difficult to fathom how Art Carney defeated Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, and Dustin Hoffman at the 47th Academy Awards or how Rex Harrison beat Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, and Peter Sellers at the 37th Academy Awards. What remains more inconceivable is how some of Hollywood's greatest stars, such as Cary Grant, Johnny Depp, and Robert Redford,...

Joyce Randolph, the last of the surviving cast members of The Honeymooners, has died. Her son confirmed her death, of natural causes, at her Manhattan home on Saturday night to the Associated Press. She was 99.

From 1955 to 1956, over what is known as The Honeymooners’ “Classic 39” episodes, Randolph starred as Trixie Norton, the patient, supportive wife to doltish sewer worker Ed Norton, played by Art Carney. Together as the Nortons, they were the upstairs neighbors and de facto best friends to loudmouthed bus driver Ralph Kramden and his long-suffering wife Alice,...

Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton on the classic sitcom “The Honeymooners,” and was the last surviving member of the cast, died Saturday in New York City. She was 99.

Randolph was in hospice care at the time of her death and died of natural causes, her son, Randy, told TMZ.

Randolph’s character was married to Art Carney’s Ed Norton on “The Honeymooners.” They were the neighbors of Ralph and Alice Kramden, played by Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows.

Born Joyce Sirola to a Finnish American family in Detroit, she got her start in show business when she joined a touring production of “Stage Door” while working at a department store, then moved to New York where she acted in theater and on television in shows such as “Buck Rogers.”

Gleason noticed her in a commercial and cast her in “The Honeymooners” in 1951. It first appeared as a sketch...

Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton on the television classic The Honeymooners, died Saturday at her home in New York City, according to multiple reports. She was in hospice care at the time of her death, which was from natural causes.

Randolph played the wife of sewer worker Ed Norton, played by Art Carney. The couple were the best friends and neighbors of Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason), and Alice Kramden (Audrey Meadows).

Randolph was tabbed for the role after Gleason saw her on a chewing gum commercial.

Trixie was married to a sewer worker, and I guess she considered herself a little better than the character of Ed Norton,” Randolph said in a 1999 interview with the Television Academy Foundation. “But she was just a housewife — she and Alice didn’t have jobs. They stayed home all the time, which was kind of amazing, but the husbands didn’t want them to work.

Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie, the wife of Art Carney’s goofy sewer worker Ed Norton, on the classic sitcom The Honeymooners, has died. She was 99.

Randolph, the last surviving member of the famous foursome that also included the stars Jackie Gleason (as Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden) and Audrey Meadows (as Ralph’s level-headed wife, Alice), died Saturday at her home in New York, her son, Randy, told TMZ.

Gleason spotted Randolph doing a commercial for Clorets and hired her to play Trixie on his DuMont network variety show Cavalcade of Stars, which premiered in 1951 and featured the Kramdens and the Nortons — neighbors in a rundown Bensonhurst apartment building — in a recurring skit.

Randolph continued on CBS’ The Jackie Gleason Show and then on The Honeymooners when it was spun off in 1955-56 as a half-hour sitcom recorded in front of a live audience. That season is known for...

Joyce Randolph has sadly passed away.

The last surviving cast member of The Honeymooners died Saturday (January 13) at the age of 99 at her home in New York City due to natural causes, her son confirmed to TMZ on Sunday (January 14).

She famously played the role of Trixie Norton, the wife of Art Carney’s Ed Norton. The sitcom ran from 1955 to 1956 on CBS, following Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and his wife Alice (Audrey Meadows), and Trixie and Ed.

Keep reading to find out more…

The character originated on The Jackie Gleason Show in 1952, which she appeared on until 1957.

The sitcom also got a 2005 film adaptation starring Cedric the Entertainer, Gabrielle Union, Mike Epps and Regina Hall. Just recently in 2022, CBS announced it was developing a female-driven “reimagining” of the comedy series, via TVLine.

She would also appear on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, The Plainclothesman, The Doctors and the Nurses...

Joyce Randolph, best known for starring as Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners, has died at the age of 99. The actress passed away on January 13 in her home in New York City of natural causes, her son, Randolph Richard Charles, told TMZ. She had reportedly been in hospice care. Randolph played Trixie Norton, the loyal, strong-willed and bossy housewife of Ed Norton (Art Carney) on The Honeymooners, a working-class comedy that ran one season from 1955 to 1956. She did not appear in every episode (while her co-stars did) but brought a hilarious realism to her character that made her memorable to audiences even when she wasn’t onscreen. She was the last surviving cast member of The Honeymooners — Jackie Gleason passed away in 1987, Audrey Meadows in 1996, and Carney in 2003 — and remained one of the most iconic actresses from the Golden Age of television. Randolph was born Joyce Sirola on October 21, 1924 in Detroit,...

Joyce Randolph, the last surviving cast member of The Honeymooners, has died. She was 99.

Randolph passed away Saturday at her New York City of natural causes, Randolph’s son confirmed to TMZ Sunday.

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On The Honeymooners, Randolph played Trixie Norton, the wife of Art Carney’s Ed Norton. The sitcom, which ran from 1955 to 1956 on CBS, followed the day-to-day life...

The original 1959 black-and-white series of The Twilight Zone is available for streaming on Paramount+ and Freevee, making it easy to watch all five seasons. Jordan Peele's 2019 The Twilight Zone is not currently hosted by major streaming services, but can be found on Freevee and USA Network. Die-hard fans can enjoy a Twilight Zone marathon on the Syfy channel starting on December 30th, running throughout the beginning of 2024, providing a spooky alternative to the New Year's Ball Drop.

The Twilight Zone has been a creepy classic ever since it first aired in 1959, and it's now available for online streaming. The show's spooky stories served as the basis for many now-classic horror tropes, also spawning numerous spin-off books, games, comic books, and even theme-park attractions. The series is so famous that "Am I in the Twilight Zone?" has become a common expression uttered by people in absurd situations. Now, even after...

Following the massive success of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, an attempt at a spin-off in the form of a holiday special was released on CBS in 1978, aptly titled The Star Wars Holiday Special. The special was set between Episode IV and Episode V of the Skywalker Saga, with the original cast returning. As a spin-off of a film, audiences were then introduced to the infamous bounty hunter, Boba Fett. While the special was highly anticipated, as it was a continuation of the most popular movie at the time, the special was pretty much universally hated upon its release.

The Holiday Special was a made-for-television movie that didn't include George Lucas' involvement. The actors and creators hated it, and it has been scrubbed from canon quickly, with no official release of the special ever airing following its original broadcast. Yet, it would find a cult audience as...

It's probably the fault of closed-minded, conservative propaganda that the idea of subversiveness within art received a bad reputation. Just as all art is political, all art is (or at least can be) a little subversive. Certainly the dictionary definition of the term, where a work of art intends to undermine the power and/or authority of an established idea, system or value, is heavily akin to the way plot structure tends to be broken down within plays and screenplays: a period of Stasis being interrupted by an Intrusion or Inciting Action, and so on.

Given how weird a number of people are when it comes to the behavior and attitudes toward the Christmas holiday, it's no real surprise that any art having to do with Christmas tends toward subversion. This can manifest in tangential ways (like the slapstick violence of the "Home Alone" series) or direct ways (Santa Claus...