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The Misquote Heard 'Round the Web Back in 2022, during Variety’s 'Actors on Actors' series, Jennifer Lawrence added a bold- if inaccurate- claim to her résumé: that she was the first woman to lead an action movie. “Nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie,” she said, seated across from Viola Davis. She was swiftly dragged across the internet, from Fox News segments to YouTube takedowns, with seemingly every outlet eager to remind her just how wrong she was. In a follow-up with 'The Hollywood Reporter', Lawrence clarified she had simply misspoken- nervous in the presence of a “living legend,” Viola Davis. Honestly, fair. I wouldn’t be able to string two words together if I was sitting across from arguably the greatest actress of her generation. And in a way, something positive did come out of the backlash: a renewed spotlight on...

Given that some authorities mark 1903's The Great Train Robbery as the first action film, it's evident that the genre has been around for quite a while now. Still, and in spite of early, sadly underappreciated silent stars like Pearl White and Helen Holmes, it was not until the 1970s that action movie heroines truly entered the pop culture conversation. Fortunately, as times changed, more and more women in the industry took leading roles in promising action films and franchises, bringing to life memorable and compelling personalities, with many such characters being among the most memorable in film history.

Amy Adams will likely be contending at next year’s Primetime Emmy Awards for “Sharp Objects,” and she’s a potential Oscar contender for her supporting role in “Vice,” but she’s got a couple of stops to make in the months leading up to them. One of them is the Screen Actors Guild Awards in January. She has previously earned four individual nominations for her work in film, and she won in 2013 as a member of the ensemble of “American Hustle,” but either “Sharp Objects” or “Vice” (or both) could earn Adams her very first individual SAG victory.

In HBO’s critically-acclaimed adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s 2006 debut novel, Adams plays Camille Preaker, an emotionally troubled reporter who returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two young girls. Helen Holmes (Observer) writes that Adams gives “an instant classic workaholic anti-hero performance reminiscent of ‘Mad Men’s’ Don Draper...

Hollywood child actor who was one of the last surviving performers from the silent film era

Lassie Lou Ahern, who has died aged 97, enjoyed a substantial career as a child actor in 1920s Hollywood, and was one of the last surviving performers from the silent film era.

She made her debut aged three, in Hal Roach’s first full-length movie, an adaptation of The Call of the Wild (1923), and soon was regularly cast in Charley Chase comedies and as the object of rescue in the popular serials of Helen Holmes. In pictures such as Webs of Steel (1925), Ahern and Holmes carried out their own dangerous stunt work. She appeared in productions by independent producers (The Dark Angel for Samuel Goldwyn, Hell’s Highroad for Cecil B DeMille, Robes of Sin for William Russell, all in 1925), and features at major studios (John Ford’s now lost film Thank You and Excuse Me starring Norma Shearer,...

Last week Kino Lorber launched a new Kickstarter aimed to fund their latest project “Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers,” a collection of important American films directed by women, including Alice Guy Blaché, Lois Weber, Nell Shipman, Dorothy Davenport­, and many more, between 1910 and 1929.

The ambitious project will be presented in association with the Library of Congress and be the largest commercially-released video collection of films by female helmers. It will include HD restorations of both the most important films of the era, as well as lesser-known works, including short films, fragments and isolated chapters of incomplete serials.

“By showcasing the ambitious, inventive films from the golden age of women directors, we can get a sense of what was lost by the marginalization of women to ‘support roles’ within the film industry,” reads the Kickstarter page.

Read More: ‘The Eyeslicer,’ A New Variety Series By and For Indie Filmmakers, Launches Kickstarter Campaign...

Each year, the Library of Congress selects 25 films to be named to the National Film Registry, a proclamation of commitment to preserving the chosen pictures for all time. They can be big studio pictures or experimental short films, goofball comedies or poetic meditations on life. The National Film Registery "showcases the extraordinary diversity of America’s film heritage and the disparate strands making it so vibrant" and by preserving the films, the Library of Congress hopes to "a crucial element of American creativity, culture and history.” This year’s selections span the period 1913 to 2004 and include a number of films you’re familiar with. Unless you’ve never heard of "Saving Private Ryan," "The Big Lebowski," “Rosemary’s Baby” or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Highlights from the list include the aforementioned film, Arthur Penn’s Western "Little Big Man," John Lasseter’s 1986 animated film, “Luxo Jr.," 1953’s “House of Wax,...

Spanning the years 1913-2004, the 25 films to be added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for 2014 include Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man, John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski. The annual selection helps to ensure that the movies will be preserved for all time. This year’s list brings the number of films in the registry to 650.

Also on the list are John Lasseter’s 1986 animated film, Luxo Jr; the original Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder; and Howard Hawks’ classic 1959 Western Rio Bravo. Documentaries and silent films also make up part of the selection which represents titles that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant; they must also each be at least 10 years old. Check out the rundown of all 25 movies below:

2014 National Film Registry...