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The Green Knight‘s David Lowery has set his next feature with Oscar winner Tilda Swinton, the anarchic whodunnit and otherworldly psychological thriller, Death in Her Hands based on American author Ottessa Moshfegh’s 2020 novel.

Swinton plays a woman striving to take control of her own story in the new project from Oscar winning See-Saw Films. In the Lowery scripted title recent widow Vesta Gul (Tilda Swinton) comes across a chilling handwritten note in the woods near her home: “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.” Except there is no body. No blood. Unmoored by the death of her husband and armed only with a camera, her dog Charlie, and her vivid imagination, Vesta becomes obsessed with uncovering Magda’s identity and fate. As her inner world begins to eclipse reality, the mystery of Magda threatens Vesta...

After making his feature scripting debut with 1992's "The Cutting Edge," an agreeable figure skating riff on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" starring D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly, Tony Gilroy quickly established himself as a Hollywood screenwriter to watch. Though he received only scattered praise for delivering a hugely engrossing adaptation of Stephen King's "Dolores Claiborne" and penning the niftily plotted medical thriller "Extreme Measures," his major rewrite of "The Devil's Advocate," which transformed a difficult-to-pin-down project into a shamelessly entertaining box office hit, placed him on the town's A-list.

While Gilroy didn't have a singular voice like his top-paid peers Shane Black, Joe Eszterhas, and Daniel Waters, he was highly valued by filmmakers for his wit, sense of storytelling structure, and lack of preciousness. He wasn't above tinkering on Michael Bay's silly "Armageddon" or Antoine Fuqua's action-comedy "Bait," which was likely because a) the money...

Spoiler Alert: This story includes spoilers for the “Star Wars” series “Andor” and feature film “Rogue One,” both currently streaming on Disney+.

From its inception, “Andor” was designed by creator Tony Gilroy to chronicle what leads rebel spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) up to the events of the 2016 “Star Wars” feature film “Rogue One,” which Gilroy co-wrote. In that film, Cassian learns about a high-ranking Imperial officer, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), leaking a message to his daughter, Jyn (Felicity Jones), about the existence of a top secret super-weapon, aka the Death Star. Knowing he had to connect the numerous storytelling plot strands from “Andor” into the movie’s complicated plot made Gilroy anxious for years. It turns out, he needn’t have worried. “That shit laid down really clean,” he tells Variety with a grin. “It presented itself without the incredible amount of effort that was anticipated.”

The final three...

Best Geogre Clooney movies to watch (Photo Credit – Prime Video)

George Clooney’s career is a masterclass in picking the right projects. He doesn’t just go for the blockbuster or the easy paycheck, rather he opts for characters with depth, often in films with something to say.

As he celebrates his birthday on May 6, it’s the perfect time to look back at some of the movies that really show us what makes him such a standout in Hollywood.

So, here are the best five George Clooney films that are definitely worth revisiting:

1. Out of Sight (1998)

This is the one that flipped the switch for Clooney’s film career. He plays Jack Foley, a bank robber who’s all charm and confidence. When he crosses paths with a no-nonsense federal marshal (played by Jennifer Lopez), things get complicated, in the best possible way.

Trending Princess Mononoke Re-Release China Box...

Hollywood is a name synonymous with glamour and fashion and is part of the reason why it is as famous as it is today. Yet not everyone has been born with the art of carrying these tentpoles forward as effortlessly as some stars. While Angelina Jolie with her glass-cut jawline and Zendaya with her versatility and boldness have made a name for themselves in the fashion aspect of the film industry, Tilda Swinton is not far behind.

Tilda Swinton | Credit: Michael Clayton / Warner Bros

The actress has long been hailed as one of the most glamorous ones in the industry, carving a niche for herself with her ethereal beauty, boundary-pushing roles, and avant-garde fashion sense. However, she recently doubted herself when being compared to her contemporaries.

Tilda Swinton doesn’t believe she is a true style icon in front of her contemporaries The Hollywood Reporter’s Actresses Roundtable | Credit: YouTube...

Even after achieving a modicum of mainstream recognition, Tilda Swinton has remained fiercely independent. Sure, she won an Oscar for Michael Clayton, joined the MCU with Doctor Strange, and even voiced an octopus in The Boys, but for the most part, Swinton has staked her fame on challenging films made by art-house auteurs, as evident most recently in The End and The Room Next Door. She's never shied away from risky roles, going all the way back to her very first movie, Derek Jarman's Caravaggio. Released in 1986, it's an unconventional biopic that upends audience expectations and posits provocative questions about the controversial Baroque painter. It also provided a model for the type of performances that would define Swinton's singular acting career.

As Rick and Ilsa taught us all too well on that fateful runway, there are few things more powerful than a heartfelt farewell. To provoke applause from the audience -- or, better yet, that stunned and contemplative silence as they watch the credits still submerged in the final moments of a story well told -- it is critical that a film nail its ending.

Whether through the unveiling of some mind-blowing twist, a sudden insight that changes the way you see the story, or a simple but powerfully human moment earned between two characters, the last sequence of a movie has the capacity to shape your understanding of all that came before -- in and out of the theater. As such, we've taken great care in compiling some of our favorite movie endings of all time, ranking them based on quality, impact, and cultural staying power.

Read more: 13 Times Film...

Is Steven Soderbergh preparing to join the “Star Wars” universe? Or is he just a huge fan of George Lucas and Tony Gilroy?

The filmmaker behind classics like “Ocean’s 11” and “Traffic,” as well as the upcoming supernatural horror “Presence,” released his 2024 watch list last week, as he has done for many years now, sharing it via his “Soderblog” under “Seen, Read 2024.” Included on the list are a range of films, television shows, and shorts, as well as novels, short stories, and plays, but of particular note are his multiple viewings of “Star Wars” films across the year, seemingly sparked by his watching the Disney+ “Rogue One” spin-off series “Andor” from Tony Gilroy. Soderbergh and Gilroy are longtime friends and collaborators, the former having helped finance the latter’s “Michael Clayton.” They also did a commentary track together for Carol Reed’s “The Third Man” that’s really worth a listen.

Selena Gomez's chances at earning her first acting nomination at the Oscars could now be ruined. Although she is perhaps best known as a pop star and businesswoman, Gomez has also been an actor since she was a child. After being cast on Barney & Friends in the early 2000s, she went on to play roles in a variety of prominent film and television projects, including Wizards of Waverly Place, Only Murders in the Building, Hotel Transylvania, and Spring Breakers.

However, she delivered one of her best performances yet after joining the Emilia Pérez cast. The 2024 Jacques Audiard musical, which also stars Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón, sees Gomez playing the wife of a Mexican cartel leader. In addition to allowing her to showcase her musical chops in performances of songs such as the Oscar-shortlisted "Mi Camino," the movie has allowed her to be considered an Oscar frontrunner...

Exclusive: David Zayas, Jack Alcott and James Remar will join Michael C. Hall in the Paramount+ with Showtime Original series Dexter: Resurrection in series regular roles. Production begins on the new series this month and will premiere in the summer.

Zayas and Remar will return to the roles they made famous in the mothership series, Detective Angel Batista and Harry Morgan, Dexter’s father, respectively. Alcott will play Dexter’s son, Harrison Morgan, who he originally portrayed in Dexter: New Blood, the original series’ sequel that launched in 2021.

How Remar will return on a series regular basis will be interesting to see considering his character has been dead for quite some time. However, with Dexter: New Blood bleeding (pun not intended) into Dexter: Original Sin via the latter’s premiere, that might be a way in.

Photo: Robert Buckley, Amy Groening

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Peter Stranks

To kick of Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas 2024, ‘Twas The Date Before Christmas is a new, original rom-com, starring Amy Groening and Robert Buckley.

The movie reveals just how far a single woman will go to get her family to continue a holiday tradition. Read on to learn more about the movie’s plot and its cast, and watch a teaser trailer.

‘Twas The Date Before Christmas on Hallmark Channel Photo: Mimi Kuzyk, Sean Cullen, Robert Buckley, Amy Groening, Patrice Goodman Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Peter Stranks

According to TV Insider, ‘Twas The Date Before Christmas tells the story of Jessie (Groening), who wants to stop her family from canceling the Chamberlain Family Christmas Olympics. To do so, she tells the family she is bringing a date to the long-standing family tradition.

Meanwhile, she meets Bryan (Buckley) on...

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been such a coveted hub of entertainment that it’s either the place where everyone is or everyone wants to be. The popularity of the franchise comes with its own perks, as you get access to unlimited resources, and people from every country that has an accessible film theater become familiar with your work. But it has its downsides because the franchise works like a conveyor belt and every project has a stupid deadline that stifles creativity. And since a lot of directors are in there, sometimes for very long periods of time, it’s interesting to see how the process of making a Marvel project has affected their vision and whether that change is palpable in their post-mcu career. Jon Favreau made the amazing Chef and then went right into the conveyor belt with Disney remakes and Star Wars’ Mandalorian IP. James Gunn made the fantastic The Suicide Squad.

Apple TV+'s new crime comedy, Wolfs, relies significantly on the star power of its cast. Directed by Spider-Man: No Way Home's Jon Watts, the 2024 movie sees two professional fixers tasked with the same gig, forcing them to put aside their egos and preferences to operate together. The film takes elements of fixer classics like Michael Clayton and dry buddy-cop comedies like The Nice Guys, building toward a fun new thriller. It also serves as an Ocean's franchise replacement for the two main stars, George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

The Wolfs cast isn't very large, with most of the screen time occupied by the two leads. The best fixer movies typically spend most of their time following the lead as they navigate a city and their crime situation. However, there's always a need for supporting characters, and Wolfs has several recognizable actors who appear for just a brief portion of the film.

Is the film business currently sustainable in the United States? The answer, according to American industry leads, is a conditional yes.

This year’s Creative Investors’ Conference at the San Sebastián Film Festival kicked things off with a panel taking the temperature of the U.S. market.

“Anything that feels like a communal experience is working right now in the US,” said Scott Shooman, head of film at AMC Networks, a portfolio that encompasses IFC Films, Rlje Films and the streaming service Shudder. “The specialty market is much more genre-friendly. Things you could not release in a specialty way before, you now can, as audiences are more receptive and have gotten younger.”

Shooman highlighted how, while major studios are currently grasping at straws and declaring that “the business is dying,” several independent distributors are experiencing their best weekends of all time in 2024 like A24, Neon, and Magnolia Pictures. “This is...

You got a problem? One that won’t go away? One you don’t want the cops getting wind of? Well, you’d better know a guy who knows a guy, because movies and television will have you believe that only a fixer can make a scandal like this go away.

The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival was a success on many fronts, launching many titles into the marketplace looking for buyers, and others into the fall season, including the usual spate of Oscar contenders. But the festival continues to contract, with empty seats in the largest houses.

Many sales titles weren’t scooped up quickly. According to buyers, many were demanding too much money, which should eventually shake out. David Gordon Green’s opening night family movie “Nutcrackers,” starring Ben Stiller, found a home at Hulu, and Paramount just picked up Munich Olympic Games thriller “September 5” for November release, promising an Oscar campaign.

Surprisingly, “The Life of Chuck,” without a distributor, won the People’s Choice Award that usually leads to a Best Picture Oscar nomination and occasionally an actual win. The likelihood that the film will instantly become an Oscar contender the way “American Fiction” did last year remains slim.

Denzel Washington has had many prolific roles over his long and illustrious film career. Still, the actor has also had many parts that he either missed out on out of his own volition or because the casting producers turned him down. Of course, that has not slowed him down at all, as seen in his expansive filmography and numerous award wins. Few actors are on the same level as Washington, which essentially allows him to handpick and create the projects he wants to be a part of. After starring in The Equalizer 3 in 2023, Washington will star as Macrinus in Ridley Scott's highly anticipated Gladiator II.

Washington won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Glory and an Oscar for Best Actor for his part in Training Day. He was also nominated for the prestigious honor for his work in Cry Freedom, Malcolm X, The Hurricane,...

Sharp, fun, and smartly entertaining from its first scene to its final twist, David Mackenzie’s “Relay” is an old-fashioned movie about an old-fashioned guy. The movie is a modern paranoid thriller that harkens back to the genre’s ’70s heyday (though the far more recent “Michael Clayton” might be its most obvious point of reference). The guy is an alcoholic Muslim named Ash, who became a renegade deal broker after drinking away a more conventional life.

His stocks-in-trade are whistleblowers — he works to keep them safe from the companies who want them dead. His methods are analogue — Ash exclusively communicates with brave clients and evil conglomerates alike through a talk-to-text relay service designed to help deaf people make standard phone calls. Nobody ever hears his voice or learns his name; he hammers a message into his teleprinter, and a team of very confused (but unfailingly professional) operators then speak...

The movie-stars-are-over era has been overstated. If audiences are now drawn to movies not for stars but for franchise concepts, I’m not sure how to fit the career of Timothée Chalamet into that; Emma Stone and Zendaya would also like a word. That said, when you watch George Clooney and Brad Pitt in “Wolfs,” a clever, airy, winningly light-fingered and debonair action comedy about two rival fixers who have to learn to work together, you’d be forgiven for describing the sensation you feel as movie-star nostalgia.

These two have been stars since the ’90s, and no one, least of all themselves, is pretending that they’re young. Yet no one makes aging into the new cool more than they do. Clooney is the rare actor who has always worn his gray like the essence of glamour, and now, at 63, with a silver beard and hair not just two-tone but marbled,...

Avengers: Endgame broke records with its Oscar-winning cast of 7, an achievement unmatched in the MCU. The movie deserves to keep this record, as it capped off a decade of interconnected Marvel stories. The star-studded cast highlighted the end of an era in the MCU, with many characters making their final appearances.

Avengers: Endgame holds a litany of records, and there is one in particular that the MCU will never break. The penultimate movie of the Infinity Saga drew a line beneath more than a decade's worth of interconnected stories and earned the accolade of becoming the highest-grossing Marvel movie. Its financial success is no surprise given that it marked the culmination of these stories, especially those of MCU royalty like Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man and Chris Evans' Captain America. Yet the sheer amount of star power within the movie can't be overlooked.

Avengers: Endgame was the highest-grossing movie...

Kevin Costner starred as an escaped convict who takes a boy hostage in Clint Eastwood’s 1993 film, A Perfect World. Eastwood was given the script right after his Oscar-winning film Unforgiven. He intended to take a break from the double duty of directing and acting, however, Costner convinced him to play the role of Texas Ranger Red Garnett. Interestingly, Costner and Eastwood did not see eye to eye on many of the creative decisions in the film.

Clint Eastwood directed and acted in the 1993 film A Perfect World, which also co-starred Kevin Costner

A Perfect World was initially pitched to Steven Spielberg, who had to turn down the project as he was busy with Jurassic Park. When Eastwood was onboarded as the director, he initially wanted Denzel Washington to play the role of the escaped convict Butch in the film.

Kevin Costner Stormed Off Clint Eastwood’s Movie Set Due...

The 2024 Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress are Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”), Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), America Ferrera (“Barbie”), Jodie Foster (“Nyad”), and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”). Our odds currently indicate that Randolph (3/1) will emerge victorious, followed in order of likelihood by Blunt (4/1), Brooks (4/1), Ferrera (9/2), and Foster (9/2).

The only one of these five actresses with any previous Oscar bids to her name is Foster, who is also this year’s oldest nominee by two full decades. Before she bagged two lead trophies for “The Accused” (1989) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1992), she broke through at age 14 with a supporting mention for “Taxi Driver” (1977), becoming the seventh youngest Oscar-nominated performer at the time. Since 47 years separate her first and second featured notices, she now holds the record for longest span between consecutive bids in a single acting category.

As the potential eighth recipient of three or more acting Oscars, Foster...

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo embraces the absurd to discuss the film “Problemista” with director and star Julio Torres and co-star Tilda Swinton. In the A24 comedy, out now, Alejandro (Torres) is an aspiring toymaker who loses his job and falls in with an art-world outcast (Swinton) to maintain his work visa.

Continue reading ‘Problemista’: Tilda Swinton & Julio Torres Discuss Their A24 Comedy, Big Budget Experimentation & ‘Constantine 2’ [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

When Tilda Swinton first got the script for Problemista, she wasn’t sure what to make of the character Elizabeth, who the film’s writer-director-star Julio Torres was hoping she would play. Set in New York City, Problemista tells the story of Alejandro, a Salvadorian immigrant who is desperately navigating the brutal bureaucracy of the U.S. immigration system so he can pursue his dream of becoming a toy designer at Hasbro.

When the film opens, Alejandro is working at a cryogenic facility where dying people pay large sums of...

With Gareth Edwards on the promotional circuit for his new sci-fi epic The Creator, folks have been asking him repeatedly about the reported behind-the-scenes drama on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. While he previously said he has no regrets concerning his time with Lucasfilm, in a new interview, he denies that he was ever not working on the film. The popular myth is that Edwards was replaced by Tony Gilroy, the movie’s co-writer as director (with Gilroy having already directed Michael Clayton and The Bourne Legacy). He insists that’s not the case. Speaking with Kcrw’s The Business (excepted by THR), he says all the gossip surrounding the film is inaccurate. “Tony came in, and he did a lot of great work, for sure. No doubt about it. But we all worked together until the last minute of that movie.”

Backing up his claim, GIlory notes that...

We’ve reached Labor Day and the close of this endless summer labor dispute that has stretched 18 weeks with no end in sight — many who had pegged Labor Day as the likely resolution now point to Thanksgiving. Deadline Strike Talk host Billy Ray engages Jennifer Fox, producer of such films as Michael Clayton, Nightcrawler, The Last Duel, and the Sundance sensation Magazine Dreams. They dig into the current labor stalemate and how AMPTP might find common ground with WGA and SAG-AFTRA. And they also engage the plight of the producers who assemble projects from inception, don’t get paid until production stars, and are the first to be asked to take a haircut on their fees. Producers don’t need an alliance. What they need is a union, Ray and Fox argue.

Listen here:...

Two-time Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender’s character in David Fincher’s The Killer recites his list of rules that includes stick to your plan, trust no one, forbid empathy, and anticipate, don’t improvise. That seems to be working for the assassin until something goes unexpectedly wrong.

In addition to Michael Fassbender, the thriller stars Charles Parnell (Barry), Arliss Howard (Manhunt), Sophie Charlotte (Todas as Flores), and Oscar winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton). Andrew Kevin Walker adapted writer Alexis Nolent (a.k.a Matz) and illustrator Luc Jacamon’s graphic novel series, with three-time Oscar nominee David Fincher directing.

Netflix’s The Killer is set to hold its world premiere screening at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday, September 3, 2023. The film will be released in October in select theaters followed by a release on Netflix on November 10th.

Netflix released this short but snappy synopsis of Fincher’s latest thriller:

“After a fateful near-miss,...

Following over a week of face-to-face, closed-door meetings, negotiations between leadership of the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers hit another snag as common ground was left unfound and the studios leaked their contracts proposal to the press to much ridicule and fanfare.

Speaking to riled up picketers in New York City Thursday, “Andor” creator Tony Gilroy emphasized that “we are not having it anymore” and that he’s tired of Hollywood studio execs who “do not know what the f–k they’re doing” with a “younger” and “faster” union.

“We have one problem: The AMPTP does not have their s—t together,” he said of execs like Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley and AMPTP President Carol Lombardini. “They do not know what the f—k they’re doing.

Welcome back to Oscars Playback, in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng revisit Oscar ceremonies and winners of yesteryear. This week, we cover the 80th Academy Awards in 2008, honoring the films of 2007.

The 80th Academy Awards almost didn’t happen the way it did. The 2007-08 writers’ strike ended just 12 days before the ceremony, so producers were prepping for a strike-proof version of the ceremony. In the end, a traditional ceremony took place, hosted by Jon Stewart, who had to ask Hollywood, “Does this town need a hug?” It was a reference to the slate of “psychopathic killer movies,” including eventual — and one of the greatest — Best Picture winner “No Country for Old Men.”

See Oscars Playback: Revisiting the 2006 ceremony when ‘Crash’ crashed its way into Best Picture

“No Country for Old Men” won four Oscars total, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for...

Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Hanks star in the “hilarious and joyful” (GQ) comedy Asteroid City, available to own with all-new bonus content on Digital on August 11, 2023 and on Blu-ray and DVD on August 15, 2023 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Written and directed by seven-time Oscar® nominee Wes Anderson, Asteroid City on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD showcases brand-new featurettes with exclusive talent and filmmaker interviews that dive deeper into the film’s unique characters, story, and themes of community and curiosity, lifting the curtain on Anderson’s extraordinary vision.

Certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, Asteroid City “packs a punch with its ensemble cast” (Slash Film), featuring an all-star, critically acclaimed supporting cast alongside Schwartzman, Johansson, and Hanks, including Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Tony Revolori,...

Katherine Matilda Swinton, better known as Tilda Swinton, is a renowned British actress known primarily for her distinct roles in numerous independent films and blockbusters. She is best known for her inspiring performance as a merciless corporate lawyer in Michael Clayton, where she received the prestigious honor of earning an Academy Award for best supporting actress.

Tilda Swinton Biography: Age, Early Life, Family, Education

Tilda Swinton was born on November 5, 1960 (Swinton: age 62) in London, England. Her parents are Judith Balfour and Sir John Swinton, the Laird of Kimmerghame House. Swinton also has three brothers, Alexander, William and James Swinton.

Growing up in an artistic and cultured home, Swinton had become immersed in a world of creativity and innovation from a young age. She embarked on a powerful journey through the arts until ultimately uncovering something that sparked her interest and excitement.

In an exclusive video from SXSW in March 2023, Swinton...

After it was released in 2007, Michael Clayton was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It also got George Clooney one of the four Oscar nominations he’s earned for his acting. At the time, Clooney’s role in the film had him in a little-known profession in the legal industry: the “fixer.” Of course, since then, the job has gone from being in the shadows to being on the front page, especially in regards to Former President Donald Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen. But, when the film was released, Clooney explained to us what the job was, what it entailed, and how it made for such a compelling film. (Click on the media bar below to hear George Clooney) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/George_Clooney_Michael_Clayton_.mp3

Michael Clayton is currently streaming on HBO Max and available on DVD,...

Bill Hader appears on my screen from Los Angeles, unshaven, a little groggy and in an uncluttered white room. Faced with this pixelated version of him, I’m instantly reminded of his role in the 2008 Judd Apatow-produced romcom Forgetting Sarah Marshall, for which he appeared almost exclusively on video call, in the days before Zoom was a thing. “It was such a novelty back then,” he says, that furrowed brow unmistakeable. “It was like, ‘Whoa, this is new.’”

Saturday Night Live’s erstwhile Man of a Thousand Faces is here on my laptop to talk about his greatest creation, Barry Berkman, a marine turned assassin turned aspiring actor in the HBO comedy-drama Barry, which Hader writes and directs as well as playing the title character. The show has won multiple Emmys; critical adulation; obsessive fans. What began as an apparent riff on the hitman-with-a-heart-of-gold trope has evolved over four...

With three “Star Wars” series competing for the first time in the same Emmy season — especially in the craft races — how can the critically acclaimed yet underperforming “Andor” hold its own against “The Mandalorian” (which has amassed 14 craft wins in two seasons), let alone the Jedi-infused “Obi-Wan Kenobi” limited series?

Simple: By touting its strengths as one of the top 10 shows of 2022 (per IndieWire’s Ben Travers), as well as the best “Star Wars” since “Rogue One,” which first introduced Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) as part of the daring mission to steal the Death Star plans. In the “Andor” prequel, created by Tony Gilroy (who co-wrote “Rogue One”), we find out how Cassian went from world-weary scavenger to conniving Rebel spy.

Beyond sci-fi, it’s a gritty spy thriller that emphasizes politics more than any other “Star Wars” show, slowly filing in the details of this complex loner, who...

There aren't many George Clooney Horror Movies, but they're certainly a unique bunch. Before Clooney landed his breakout role with E.R.'s Doug Ross, he was a working actor who appeared in various odd jobs on the big and small screen. He starred in action thriller Red Surf, made guest appearances on shows like Murder, She Wrote and The Golden Girls and starred in the short-lived sitcom Baby Talk. E.R. changed the course of his career, however.

After leaving the medical drama and starring in hits like Ocean's Eleven, Clooney often focused on more mature material like Michael Clayton or Good Night, And Good Luck, which he also directed. While he's dipped into genre fare like sci-fi with Gravity, he's largely avoided both action and horror movies. In fact, most of George Clooney's horror movies were shot before he became famous. While he might not be a big fan of horror himself,...

Originally a staple of the TNT network, Leverage ran for five seasons before ending its run in 2012. After nearly a decade, the show was revived for the IMDb TV streaming service. Leverage: Redemption reunites nearly the entire cast of the original show, save for the swapping of original star Timothy Hutton for series newcomer Noah Wyle. The revival was successful enough to spawn a second season, now on Amazon Freevee, the ad-supported streaming platform that coexists alongside the premium Prime Video service.

In addition to his gig on Leverage: Redemption, Noah Wyle is known for leading roles in cult TV properties like Falling Skies and The Librarians, as well as films as varied as Donnie Darko and A Few Good Men. Of course, an entire generation of fans know him best for his role as Dr. John Carter, a character he played for eleven seasons (plus subsequent guest appearances) on the hit NBC medical drama,...

The flames of rebellion can be a slow burn before the flashpoint. That’s a fair description of the reception for “Andor,” Disney+’s latest “Star Wars” series. Early reporting suggested viewers weren’t nearly as interested as they’d been in “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett,” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Three weeks after its Season One finale, “Andor” feels vital in a way that eluded its predecessors.

With IP franchises risking streaming fatigue, it’s special that a “Star Wars” property — and a TV series at that — would be beloved by fans and appear on critics’ year-end Top 10 lists (including that of IndieWire’s Ben Travers). Rian Johnson’s 2017 feature “The Last Jedi” found acclaim (and 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), but as the internet liked to tell us, fans were more divided. “Andor” represents a unique moment of lockstep, and word of mouth should carry it to even larger audiences over the holidays.

[Editor’s note: This interview contains spoilers about the plot of “The Eternal Daughter.”]

Tilda Swinton’s career has taken some unexpected turns in the decades since she was Derek Jarman’s experimental partner-in-crime. After her acclaimed turn in Jarman’s “Edward II,” Swinton’s gender-bending performance as an Elizabethan nobleman in Sally Potter’s “Orlando” solidified her capacity for audacious onscreen transformations. It wasn’t until 15 years later, with her Oscar-winning turn in Tony Gilroy’s “Michael Clayton,” that Swinton began to explore more commercial material.

These days, however, she has doubled down on the more singular undertakings that put her on the map, from Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s meditative “Memoria” to “The Eternal Daughter,” her latest collaboration with longtime friend and colleague Joanna Hogg.

“The Eternal Daughter,” which A24 released theatrically last week, merges Swinton’s performative ambition with a quasi-genre twist. She plays both Julie, a middle-aged filmmaker, and her mother Rosalind as the pair journey to a gothic country estate.

This story about “Andor” star Diego Luna first appeared in the Guild & Critics Awards / Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

“Andor,” the latest Star Wars series for Disney+ and a prequel to 2016’s big screen spin-off “Rogue One,” feels unlike anything that has happened in a galaxy far, far away. It’s a methodical, intricate look at how one man, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), becomes radicalized after a lifetime spent oppressed by systematically evil forces he once thought were too big to resist. His wins aren’t the flashiest and at the end of the first season he’s still a character in flux — but what an adventure and what a performance from Luna.

Luna, who also serves as an executive producer, had been on the project through earlier attempts at a streaming series from “The Americans” writer Stephen Schiff and “Encanto” director Jared Bush. But then “Michael Clayton” writer/director Tony Gilroy,...

Tilda Swinton is currently starring in The Eternal Daughter, a riveting drama that many critics are calling one of the actress' best projects in years. The film follows a woman and her elderly mother as they're forced to work through some long-standing conflicts when they realize their hotel is haunted.

Swinton is often cited as one of the best actresses of her generation, consistently providing performances that express a wide range of emotions and styles. From Michael Clayton to Julia, her filmography is an incredibly varied one, proving that Swinton is unwilling to confine herself to one particular genre.

We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) Available To Stream On Prime Video

We Need To Talk About Kevin is probably Swinton's most famous project to date, and it also features her most compelling performance. It's an emotional rollercoaster that proves just how versatile she can be, navigating the film's complex themes in an extremely powerful way.

The first season of "Andor" is still not over, but it has already cemented itself as arguably the best live-action "Star Wars" show. From its poignant commentary on oppression to its layered development of the rebellion, the series has far surpassed any expectations set by its predecessor, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." The writing is top-notch, and the filmmaking is appropriately up to snuff. This is in large part thanks to Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter Tony Gilroy, who served as showrunner on the series. But shockingly enough, the veteran filmmaker did not helm any of the episodes for the first season, and won't anytime soon either.

Gilroy is responsible for writing and producing the "Bourne" franchise, and oversaw post-production and reshoots for "Rogue One" in addition to reworking the screenplay. "Michael Clayton" and "Duplicity" are the highlights of his directing career, while "The Bourne Legacy" is probably a low point.

In the span of its first handful of episodes, "Andor" has brought a completely new and much-needed creative revitalization to the "Star Wars" franchise. Much of this has to do with the fact that creator Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton," the "Bourne" trilogy) put aside any questions of studio interference -- like the kind that plagued the production of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" -- and simply told the boldly visionary story he set out to tell. But part of that success also came from the clever construction of the first season as a whole. 

Split up into a number of mini-arcs, "Andor" has generally featured the same pairing of writer and director attached to three or four blocks of episodes at a time. Director Toby Haynes and Gilroy teamed up for the first few episodes, Susanna White and Dan Gilroy took over for the next three, and Haynes and...

George Clooney is currently starring opposite long-time collaborator Julia Roberts in Ticket To Paradise, and many critics are already labeling the movie as a confident return to form for the veteran actor. He's had a long and illustrious career over the years, and Ticket to Paradise is exactly the kind of film that first shot him into the spotlight.

Many Reddit users have begun to discuss how Ticket to Paradise compares to Clooney's other projects, and opinions about the actor's best movies are strongly divided on the site. He's been involved in a wide variety of films over the years, and though his career has been fairly consistent, there are certain ones that stand out among the crowd.

Michael Clayton (2007) Available To Stream On Tubi TV

Michael Clayton features one of George Clooney's most iconic and recognizable roles to date, following the titular character as he's hired to remedy...

Midway through Season 1 of “Andor” (streaming on Disney+), it’s very clear that this is like no other “Star Wars” series. Showrunner Tony Gilroy has us hooked with his gritty spy thriller-meets-wartime heist about scavenger-turned Rebel spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). It should come as no surprise given what Gilroy previously achieved as the screenwriter of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “The Bourne Identity,” and as writer-director of “Michael Clayton.” His “Rogue One”origin story is the kind of nuanced, slow-burning character study “Star Wars” fans have been waiting for, filling in the details of a complex loner who will eventually light the fuse that ignites the rebellion against the Empire.

“Andor” is a Gilroy sibling collaboration, with Tony joined by screenwriter-director Dan (“Nightcrawler) and editor John (who also cut “Suicide Squad” and “Pacific Rim”). Although Lucasfilm and Disney+ initially wanted a five-season commitment, with each season spanning...

Tony Gilroy enjoys the Hollywood spotlight on him as the showrunner of “Andor,” its first season presently airing on Disney+. And that’s how some moviegoers may know him best, as the man behind the “Star Wars” series and the script/reshoots of 2016’s “Rogue One,” which first introduced Cassian Andor’s character. But Gilroy is so much more than a man involved in “Star Wars.” While others may know him as the screenwriter behind the “Jason Bourne” films, what Gilroy should be best known for is his 2007 film “Michael Clayton.”

Read More: ‘Andor’: Tony Gilroy Says He Won’t Direct In Season 2 & That’s By Design

Those who know, know: “Michael Clayton” is an elite legal thriller and one of the best American movies of the 21st century.

Continue reading Tony Gilroy Almost Made A Cheaper Version Of ‘Michael Clayton’ With Alec Baldwin & Ben Kingsley at The Playlist.

Academy Award-nominated writer/director Tony Gilroy is having a moment thanks to the rapturous critical and commercial reception of his new “Star Wars” series, “Andor,” starring Diego Luna. The showrunner is riding high with the praise given to his Lucasfilm streaming series, which presents audiences a very different experience and perspective on the galaxy far far away.

Continue reading Tony Gilroy Talks His Unmade French Guillotine Series & Why A French Filmmaker Like Jacques Audiard Should Showrun It at The Playlist.

Photo: 'Michael Clayton' 'Michael Clayton' ‘Michael Clayton,’ 2007’s legal thriller directed by Tony Gilroy starring George Clooney, is finally on Netflix. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, for which Tilda Swinton won “Best Supporting Actress,” it’s now mostly an afterthought when we consider the best films since 2000. And it isn’t any sort of revolutionary premise and it isn’t packed with breathtaking action sequences, like the Bourne Franchise which Gilroy is credited with writing; it’s a slow burn -- a psychological and legal thriller. You can imagine how a movie where the stakes are realistic, in an ever more bombastic movie industry, doesn’t get the appreciation it deserves. Yet, its brilliance is partly underscored by its understatedness and its subtlety. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to...

Star Wars has always been the most interesting when it's being guided by someone looking to break the mold in some form. "The Last Jedi," for example, took a more introspective approach to the iconographies we know and love, while still being a rousing space adventure with characters who evolve beyond their archetypes. It's an astounding piece of franchise filmmaking that I thought Lucasfilm would never allow again.

I'm pleasantly surprised that "Andor" shows what the world of Star Wars looks like without the influence of the Skywalkers or fan-baiting. With the first three episodes made available on Disney+, the prequel series has delved into the slow-burn murky waters of neo-noir, espionage, and war dramas. You feel like you're watching a galaxy beaten down by an overwhelming regime, in which the might of the few make a stand.

In that case, Diego Luna's Andor is the perfect figurehead to...

It’s a more intricate and complex Star Wars than you’ve ever seen.

While the Star Wars series from The Mandalorian to Obi-Wan have been obsessed in stunt-casting legacy characters and those from the Dave Filoni animated universe, the Tony Gilroy created Andor is a very serious, detailed spy show, almost reminiscent of Apple’s Slow Horses. Andor follows Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor from the Gilroy penned Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in his rise from being a refugee guy to a rebel who looks to redeem his planet Kenari; his people largely wiped out due to an alleged mining accident from the empire.

If you want to know how serious a show Andor is, the show kicks off with Luna’s Cassian looking for his sister in a brothel.

You can listen to our conversation with Gilroy below:

“I’m writing every bit as complex, and complicated,...

There were far more important things than trophies to be concerned about last night at the WGA Awards as scribes on both coasts were consumed with the guild’s upcoming talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and of course, the possibility of a strike.

In speaking with a number of writers at both the Beverly Hills and NYC ceremony last night, Deadline heard the same demand from scribes: Give us our cut of streaming profits.

“The last big negotiation [in 2007] was just as streaming was on the table,” Jojo Rabbit filmmaker and WGA adapted screenplay winner Taika Waititi told Deadline last night in New York, “It is the platform and it’s where we all make our bread and butter now. So we have to re-negotiate.”

“This is a pivot point. It feels like every negotiation is an important negotiation, but we’re going through a tectonic...