News

The official German Oscar entry for Best International Feature is an insular, pulse-pounding thriller set within the confines of a school that, for cinematic purposes, doubles as a microcosm of society in general circa 2023 where facts don’t matter, misinformation is rampant, suspicions run hot, divisions run deep, racism still rears its ugly head, and no one can be quite sure where, and even if they want to, fit in.

A critical hit beginning at Berlin, and then winning much talk at Telluride, Toronto and AFI festivals, this fascinating movie is a Blackboard Jungle of a different stripe, but still one that puts a critical finger on our educational institutions by way of the human scope. That it is shot (by cinematographer Judity Kaufmann) in a claustrophobic 4:3 aspect ratio only adds to the tension created by co-writer (with Johannes Duncker) and director Ilker Çatak (a past student Academy Award...

Frances Sternhagen, the legendary Broadway actress who won two Tony Awards, was nominated for another five and achieved lasting and widespread recognition for her comedically stern portrayal of Esther Clavin, the demanding mother of insufferable postman Cliff Claven on Cheers, died Nov. 27 of natural causes. She was 93.

Her death was announced by her son, the actor John Carlin, on Instagram.

“Frannie. Mom. Frances Sternhagen. On Monday night, Nov 27, she died peacefully at her home, a month and a half shy of her 94th birthday,” Carlin wrote today, ending the tribute with “Fly on, Frannie. The curtain goes down on a life so richly, passionately, humbly and generously lived.”

See Carlin’s Instagram post below.

Sternhagen, one of the New York stage’s most celebrated and beloved stars, gave indelible performances in productions including the 1972 production of The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Equus in 1975, Angel in 1978, On Golden Pond in 1979 and,...

Labor Day weekend is upon us and if you are not out enjoying the sunshine as we ease from summer into fall, Zap2it's got you covered for all the Labor Day weekend television programming. From "Buffy" to "Star Wars" marathons to the kick-off of college football, there is a little something for everyone.

All times Eastern, check your local listings for your times/channel numbers.

Friday, Sept. 2

A&E: "Criminal Minds" marathon, 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day

Bet: "College Hill" marathon, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Bravo: "The Rachel Zoe Project" marathon, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

E!: "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" marathon, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Espn, Espn 2: U.S. Open Tennis Third Round, 2 p.m. to 11 p.m., Texas Christian at Baylor, college football, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Oxygen: "America's Next Top Model" Cycle 14 marathon, 8 a.m. to 8 p.

Sometimes hitting the multiplex just isn’t in the cards. That’s when Netflix steps in to provide a movie fix. But how to separate the wheat from the chaff? I’m happy to help; every week I’ll pick a flick from the Netflix Watch Instantly section and see if it’s worth your time. This week? “976-evil”.

Since this work week ends on a Friday the 13th, what better way to go than with something scary? Sadly, 976-evil is more confusing than creepy.

No thanks to Netflix though; their Watch Instantly stream has been crashing all week long. So instead, I headed over to Crackle – another movie streaming “channel” that is available on just about any system/tv that can stream Netflix – and stumbled onto this little gem. I vagely remember seeing the trailers for this film back in the day, but even though I’d fork over...

Weirder, wilder, and more unruly than I remember, The Parallax View (1974), remains a deeply paranoid conspiracy drama. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film feels like a dry run for All the President's Men, which Pakula made two years later.Pakula began as a producer, working with director Robert Mulligan, for 1957's Fear Strikes Out, a character drama starring Anthony Perkins as a baseball player, followed by To Kill a Mockingbird, Love with the Proper Stranger, Baby the Rain Must Fall, Inside Daisy Clover, Up the Down Staircase, and The Stalking Moon; most are respectable dramas (the last was an odd little Western) during a fairly bleak and dry period in American cinema. Finally, Pakula got behind the camera as a director at the age...

Las Vegas -- As big-screen teachers go, Cameron Diaz will not be joining, say, Sidney Poitier or Sandy Dennis as inspiring role models to her classroom kids.

The title of Diaz's school comedy pretty much sums up her character: "Bad Teacher."

Diaz's Elizabeth Halsey is a cussing, conniving, boozing, even skanky schoolmarm who calls her students morons as she hurls their test papers at them, dresses like a stripper for a class car wash and has only one educational goal: to get her hooks into a rich substitute teacher. He's played by Diaz's real-life ex, Justin Timberlake.

"Bad Teacher" arrives just in time for summer vacation, debuting in theaters June 24.

Diaz, who stopped by theater owners' CinemaCon convention Wednesday in Las Vegas to collect an award as female star of the year, described her character's life as "one big F-bomb."

"This woman is so wrong but so right," Diaz, 38, said in an interview.