News

The 80s and 90s were a great time for character actors. Guys like Gene Hackman, Brian Dennehy, Christopher Walken, John Lithgow, Morgan Freeman and many others occupied this really interesting place where they could lead their own movies and be just as comfortable playing supporting roles – whether large or small – in bigger films without worrying about things legit movie stars have to, such as bankability. Of that era, one of the biggest character actors was no doubt the fast-talking James Woods. In the eighties, his star rose thanks to movies like Videodrome, Salvador, True Believer and many others. While he never became a legit box office superstar, he was in that niche place where he could lead his own movies, such as the underrated Best Seller, while also playing plum supporting roles in movies like Chaplin, The Specialist and Casino. He was noted as one of the town’s biggest scene-stealers,...

For a man who has, for the last 30 years or so, found his life defined largely by the fact that his body moves in unwanted and uncontrollable ways, I get the feeling that the last thing Michael J. Fox is actually wants is to be still.

Davis Guggenheim’s documentary biography is formed around a series of interviews with Fox, footage of his day to day life, and narration taken (as is much of the film’s structure) from his first autobiography, Lucky Man. Still strikes me as being about a man who has always wanted to control the way he and his life move. He played sports as a kid, he talks about how he relied on the mobility of his face and his body in order to do his work as an actor; his ability to control those subtle movements a key part of what he he did.

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards season.

Let the voting begin.

It has been pretty hard this unusual Emmy season to conduct this column as usual. It’s typically is made up of nifty little moments and conversations I have as I traverse industry events, Q&As, parties etc. Not this year. There haven’t been any in a year that, like just about everything else is showbiz, is virtual in every way — even the screeners, which are all online now that the Television Academy has officially banned physical DVDs (the Motion Picture Academy follows that example after next season too). Instead, we have had the daily ritual of e-mailings from the TV Academy highlighting links to the entire slates of contenders from studios and networks. In fact it never stops.

And there are soooo many outlets, more than ever, some I have never heard of, pushing Emmy slates.

Golden Globe and Emmy winner Darren Criss has signed on to write, produce and star in Quibi’s upcoming musical comedy series “Royalties,” the company announced Wednesday. The series marks the first musical in development at the platform.

“Royalties” is a satirical take on the often untold story of songwriters behind the world’s biggest hits. The show follows the songwriting duo — Sara and Pierce (played by Criss) — as they navigate the challenges of creating a great song week after week.

Criss, who won a Golden Globe and Emmy for his leading role in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” will write the upcoming series with Nick and Matt Lang, fellow co-founders of the musical theatre company Team Starkid. Executive producers for the Quibi original include Criss, Gail Berman, Hend Baghdady, Joe Earley, Matt Lang, Nick Lang and Ricky Rollins. “Royalties” comes from Fox Entertainment’s recently formed content development unit SideCar.

Welcome to The Best Movie You Never Saw, a column dedicated to examining films that have flown under the radar or gained traction throughout the years, earning them a place as a cult classic or underrated gem that was either before it’s time and/or has aged like a fine wine. This week we’ll be looking at The Hard Way! The Story: Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox), a spoiled Hollywood action star, wants to change…...

In the beginning, God and Darren Criss created Harry Potter: The Musical, a madcap Harry Potter parody originally performed at the University of Michigan in 2009. The musical, cowritten by Matt Lang, Nick Lang, and Brian Holden and produced by StarKid Productions, arrived on YouTube that summer and quickly went viral, inspiring a 2010 sequel that helped to launch Criss into mainstream stardom. (Its popularity also inspired a name change meant to stave off the litigious Warner Bros; that’s why you now know the show as A Very Potter Musical.)

Potter’s Harry soon joined the cast of Glee, and StarKid...

While fully aware my next statement will enrage the cult of Nolan fandom, here it is: I prefer Michael Keaton-era Batman. I like a Batman who is aware of how absurd it is to dress as a giant bat while fighting crime vigilante-style, and has a sense of humor about it. And from the looks of Team Starkid's new musical, it seems I'm not alone. Team Starkid is a enthusiastic ensemble of writers, directors, actors, designers, and other artists, who express their love of pop culture, fantasy, and sci-fi through incredibly ambitious works of theatrical parody productions, like A Very Potter Musical and their latest Holy Musical B@man! Inspired by the more cartoonish elements of the Batman legacy, writers/directors Matt Lang and Nick Lang offer a full-length song-studded adventure about the caped crusader that boasts appearances from such classic Batman pun-loving villains as Catwoman, The Riddler, The Penguin,...