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Danny Dyer is on the awards trail for his turn in Disney+ series Rivals.

The EastEnders actor will compete for Best Actor at the Broadcasting Press Guild (Bpg) Awards, which is voted on by British television and media journalists.

Dyer starred as electronics businessman Freddie Jones in Disney’s series about sex and skulduggery in the British television business in the 1980s.

To win the Bpg prize, he will have to fend off competition from Lennie James (Mr Loverman), Toby Jones (Mr Bates vs the Post Office), Eddie Redmayne (Day of the Jackal), and Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall).

Rivals, based on Jilly Cooper’s novels, will do battle for Best Drama Series alongside Baby Reindeer, Day of the Jackal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and Wolf Hall.

Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning, a darling of the awards season, has been nominated for Best Actress, where her competition includes Monica Dolan...

Countless ink has been spilled and millions of feet have been shot about living in Los Angeles, and how it feels like you’re always on the precipice of apocalypse. With what we’ve seen and lived through, this past week that feeling was all too real.

Almost everyone in LA knows someone who’s lost everything in the wildfires that cut through the Pacific Palisades, Altadena and elsewhere. Its heartening to see Angelenos come together to help each other through volunteering, mutual aid and donations, and heartbreaking to see the GoFundMe pages that have been created for family after family. Our hearts are with everyone who has been affected by the wildfires in LA and beyond.

Los Angeles is more than just our home; it is the heart of Film Independent. This community is a big part of who we are, and we stand by your side during these challenging times.

Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore has been a cinematic muse for the likes of Todd Haynes, Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Altman, Alfonso Cuaron, David Cronenberg and the Coen Brothers, to name but a few. But how many of her films are classics? Let’s take a look back at 17 of her greatest roles, ranked worst to best.

Moore became a darling of independent cinema with appearances in such films as “Short Cuts” (1993), “Vanya on 42nd Street” (1994), and “Safe” (1995). It didn’t take long for Oscar voters to notice her talents, and the Academy rewarded her with four nominations in quick succession: Best Actress for “The End of the Affair” (1999) and “Far From Heaven” (2002); Best Supporting Actress for “Boogie Nights” (1997) and “The Hours” (2002). Her two bids in 2002 put her in an elite group of performers to receive lead and supporting citations in the same year.

After her double-dipping achievement, however, it seemed...

Sony's film adaptation of the popular children's picture book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, brings together an impressive cast of talented performances. Released in theaters on August 2, 2024, Harold and the Purple Crayon broke into Netflixs top 10 after an October 31 streaming release. The Oscar-nominated director Carlos Saldanha utilizes the actors expertly, ensuring that their background experiences fit perfectly with their Harold and the Purple Crayon characters.

Although there are some crucial differences, Harold and the Purple Crayon shares the same basic premise as the book. When Harold and his friends draw a portal into the real world, they must seek help to return to their magic homeworld. While waiting for the portal to open back up, Harold, Moose, and Porcupine set out to draw magic in the life of a family of two. Despite, the movie's middling reviews, Harold and the Purple Crayon's biggest strength is undoubtedly its impressive cast,...

Oscar winner Tim Robbins has been on the big screen for well into his fourth decade. Tour through our photo gallery above of Robbins’s 10 greatest films, ranked from worst to best.

Robbins won his Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for playing a former child abuse victim suspected of murder in Clint Eastwood‘s “Mystic River” (2003). He also competed as Best Director for the death-row prison drama “Dead Man Walking” (1995), which brought Susan Sarandon a Best Actress trophy. But while that film is certainly worthy of consideration among his best, this gallery is focused on Robbins’s work in front of the camera, so you won’t find it in our gallery above.

Though Robbins has yet to be recognized at the Emmys, his work on the HBO film “Cinema Verite” (2011) did bring him a Golden Globe nomination as Best TV Supporting Actor. Before that the actor won a...

On Tuesday October 8 2024, Comedy Central broadcasts an episode of the series Family Guy!

Short Cuts Season 18 Episode 11 Episode Summary

In the upcoming episode of “Family Guy,” titled “Short Cuts,” airing on Comedy Central, the Griffin family faces a series of unexpected twists. Brian, the family dog, accidentally becomes a local hero, and this newfound fame leads to a surprising reunion. An old street pal from Brian’s past reaches out, attempting to convince him to make a life-altering decision—getting neutered. As Brian struggles with the pressure, his usual wit and sarcasm are on full display.

Meanwhile, Lois decides to shake things up by getting a pixie cut, despite Peter’s strong objections. When Peter sees the drastic change, he isn’t too happy and decides to retaliate in his own hilarious way. As usual, the episode promises plenty of over-the-top humor, quick-witted jokes, and the classic family dynamic fans love.

Full Metal Jacket to Oppenheimer; West Wing to Stranger Things, Modine is a showbiz hard worker whose latest role is as a cycling coach. Ask your questions in the comments

Matthew Modine has worked with lots of the greats: Stanley Kubrick, as wise-cracking marine Jt “Joker” Davis in Full Metal Jacket; Jonathan Demme, as a goofy FBI agent in Married to the Mob; John Schlesinger, as a hapless landlord in nightmare-tenant thriller Pacific Heights; Alan Parker, as the avian-obsessed kid in Birdy; and Robert Altman (twice) in Streamers and Short Cuts. More recently he’s had a couple of turns for Christopher Nolan: the Batman-wary deputy commissioner of Gotham in The Dark Knight Rises and American engineer Vannevar Bush in Oppenheimer.

On the small screen, he has played a womanising real estate developer in Weeds, a billionaire inventor in Proof and the evil – no, wait! – saviour doctor who tries...

Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck picked up the top People’s Choice honor Sunday at the Toronto Film Festival as its 2024 edition wrapped with renewed celebrity heat but still in the shadow of Venice and Cannes.

The Stephen King novella adaptation stars Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Karen Gillan and Chiwetel Ejiofor in a genre-tripping film about embracing hope in the face of tragedy and had a world premiere in Toronto. Flanagan in a statement thanked TIFF for the top audience award prize: “I’m absolutely overwhelmed. We’re so grateful that The Life of Chuck connected with audiences in such a powerful way, but never expected this.”

The second runner up for the People’s Choice Award was Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, a queer crime musical headed to Netflix that earned the jury prize in Cannes for the director, while the titular lead Karla Sofía Gascón became...

Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton stunned the Venice Film Festival on Monday night with the premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door,” which received a 17-minute standing ovation, the longest of the 2024 edition so far.

After the film ended, the Spanish auteur kissed the cheeks of both Swinton and Moore and lifted up their arms like champion boxers. He then descended the stairs with his new muses, prolonging the ovation by shaking hands with fans in the theater. Swinton, in a white Chanel suit, hugged Moore, dressed in a gold shimmering gown. Moore looked misty-eyed as Almodóvar — in a cotton-candy pink suit — eagerly soaked in all the applause, with the crowd chanting, “Pedro! Pedro! Pedro!”

Almodóvar seemed to be individually waving to each fan in the Sala Grande theater throughout the rapturous applause. He clapped as Moore clutched his arm. As the ovation wound down, around minute 14, Almodóvar...

The 62nd edition of the New York Film Festival will kick off with RaMell Ross’s “Nickel Boys,” an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Nickel Boys.”

Film at Lincoln Center made the announcement early Monday and notably didn’t specify a premiere designation for the film, perhaps an indication that “Nickel Boys” will have its world premiere at another festival such as the Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, or Venice Film Festival.

“What an absolute honor for ‘Nickel Boys’ to open the 62nd New York Film Festival… a daydream really, for the crew, the cast, and team who’ve committed so wholeheartedly to its vision,” Ross said in a statement. The filmmaker’s debut documentary, “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” was previously screened at the 2018 edition of New Directors/New Films at New York City’s Lincoln Center. Ross called his debut feature...

For those of us who have been here for a decade or two, it’s remarkable to consider both how much and how little the city of Los Angeles has changed over the years. There are still plenty of the old landmarks—the Hollywood Sign, Pink’s Hot Dogs, that dude who rollerblades around is white robes and plays guitar on the Venice boardwalk—while other, seemingly indestructible, institutions have tragically bitten the dust.

So! With local issues perpetually at the forefront of our mind this week, here now are ten films that remind us of life in Los Angeles during a very particular and only recently bygone era: the ’90s and early 2000s. These films are honest portrayals of what livin’ la vida loca LA-style is all about, whether they’re a glimpse into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, the realities of showbiz or struggles within SoCal’s toughest ‘hoods.

The family drama is something of a stable within the Japanese film industry, with a long tradition and many big names as well as legitimate masterpieces attached to it. Similar to other cultures, the family drama is far more than a culmination of conflicts within a community of people, but rather a reflection of the political, economic and cultural challenges within a country. Directors such as Hirokazu Koreeda, whose career is basically founded on the perfection of the genre, have created works dealing with traditional family values being questioned because of various trends and developments. Based on an original work by author Akiko Shimoju, director Okayama Chikako wants to aim for similar acclaim with her adaptation of “Disease of Family”, telling the story of three families and their way of facing a particularly taxing obstacle.

Disease of Family is screening at Japan FilmFest Hamburg

“Disease of Family” starts with the story of Fujita,...

Chicago – The journey of a thousand miles begins … in the case of “Hard Miles” starring Matthew Modine … with a single pedal. “Hard Miles” joins the pantheon of cycling movies, in this case with Modine portraying a social worker who teaches his life lessons through a bicycling journey with his youthful charges.

The based-on-truth story features Greg (Modine) as a beleaguered social worker at a Colorado juvenile correctional cente, with a passion for bicycle challenges and a revelatory idea for rehabilitation … rounding up an unlikely crew of incarcerated students to complete a transformative 762 mile ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon. To achieve their goal, this determined mentor and his disgruntled teenage squad will battle heat stroke, speed wobbles, mountainous inclines, and most of all each other to come together as a unified team.

Matthew Modine in Chicago, October of 2023

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Matthew Modine was born in California,...

Don’t call it a career win because few would argue that Robert Downey, Jr. didn’t deliver one of his best performances ever as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” That immense talent was rewarded with his first Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category at the 96th Academy Awards. One of the most popular actors of the past two decades and a three-time Oscar nominee overall, Downey, Jr. earned his first nomination 30 years ago for “Chaplin.”

Read More: 2024 Oscars Winners As They Are Announced [Winners List]

Best known to global audiences for his role as Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Downey, Jr.’s prolific resume includes ’80s teen classics such as “Less Than Zero” and “Back to School,” cult ’90s comedies such as “Soapdish,” and celebrated films such as “Natural Born Killers,” “Short Cuts,” “Richard III,” “Wonder Boys,” “Bowfinger,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Zodiac,” “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,...

In the summer of 2023, Canadaland opened its first call for submissions, receiving more than 275 pitches from journalists and audio makers from around the world. “We were overwhelmed by the number of amazing concepts we received. The shows we are set to release are the ones that we were most wild about and had to bring into the world,” said Canadaland’s Publisher Jesse Brown. “They are consistent with the quality of shows we’ve made like Thunder Bay and Cool Mules, but they go into entirely new directions that are expanding our own concept of what Canadaland can be.”

Over the course of the next nine months, Canadaland will release a dynamic lineup that includes four original new series, the English language premiere of Prix-Italia winning Radio France podcast Inside Kabul, new seasons of Commons, canadaLANDBACK, and The Backbench, and urgent news and insightful analysis from longtime favorites Canadaland, Short Cuts,...

Barbenheimer kicked off when both Greta Gerwig‘s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” were released in theatres on the same day last year on July 21. However, the fun-spirited, lighthearted rivalry between the Warner Bros. comedy and the Universal biopic has continued into this awards season. Both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have often been the most nominated films at various awards groups and two performers have found themselves head to head in pretty much every precursor so far: supporting players Robert Downey Jr. and Ryan Gosling.

Downey Jr. plays scheming politician Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer” and produces a thoughtful, fierce performance as the film’s primary antagonist. Gosling, meanwhile, has the time of his life in the year’s most colorful performance — playing Ken, the doll obsessed with Barbie, in “Barbie.” You couldn’t get two more contrasting performances — both are genius in their own measure. They are nominated alongside one...

It says a lot about Julianne Moore’s talent that the film that won her an Oscar doesn’t even crack her a list of her top ten best.

After becoming a familiar face at the Academy Awards with four nominations between 1997 and 2002, Moore received her richly deserved Best Actress trophy for playing a woman with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014’s “Still Alice.” Moore is predictably excellent in that movie, hitting all the right notes over the course of its tearjerking 100-minute runtime. And although that prestige picture finally got her the gold at the ceremony, there’s plenty more interesting, unique, and memorable works in her filmography to celebrate.

The child of a military family and a theater student at Boston University, Moore began her career winning a Daytime Emmy for her work on the soap opera “As the World Turns” in 1988. A 1990 theater production of “Uncle Vanya” got...

Chicago – The stature and talent of actor Matthew Modine has loomed large for nearly two generations. He began his career in his early twenties, and continues to make an impact as he takes on new roles … for instance, that of a social worker in “Hard Miles,” which screened at the 59th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff).

Matthew Modine at the 59th Ciff on October 21, 2023

Photo credit: Joe Arce for HollywoodChicago.com

Greg (Modine) is a beleaguered social worker at a Colorado juvenile correctional center with a passion for bicycle racing and a revelatory idea for rehabilitation …rounding up an unlikely crew of incarcerated students to complete a transformative 1000-mile ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon. To achieve their goal, this determined coach and his disgruntled teenage squad will battle heat stroke, speed wobbles, mountainous inclines, and most of all each other to come together as a unified team.

Matthew Modine was born in California,...

The young people of Mongolia are caught between centuries of tradition and the demands of the modern world in City of Wind, the new film and first full-length feature from award-winning shorts director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (Snow in September, Mountain Cat).

The film, which premiered in Venice and is screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows the relationship between Ze, a 17-year-old, gentle Mongolian shaman and Maralaa, a young woman who takes him outside his world into the, for him, alien urban world of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city.

First-timer Tergel Bold-Erdene, who plays Ze, won the best actor honor for the Venice Horizons sidebar for his performance. In an exclusive first trailer of the film (see below), viewers follow Ze as he moves between the ancient spiritual traditions of his homeland and the barrage of the modern world. Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba plays Maralaa. Tsend-Ayush Nyamsuren, Ganzorig Tsetsgee and Bulgan Chuluunbat co-star.

The bread and butter of film festivals is the unveiling of new movies. And in the case of the major festivals taking place in the late summer and early fall — Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York — the selections offer a preview of potential Oscar nominees and winners. Remember the eight-minute standing ovation Brendan Fraser received last year at Venice for “The Whale”? It kicked off his comeback and journey to a best Oscar win this year.

And with the 50th annual Telluride Film Festival kicking off August 31 at in the picturesque Colorado mountain burg, let’s take the cinematic time machine back 1993 when the fest was a mere 20 years old. John Boorman of “Deliverance” and “Hope and Glory” fame was the guest director of the festival. Jennifer Jason Leigh, then just 31 and whose latest film was Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts,” was honored with a tribute as was socialist British director Ken Loach,...

The 80th annual Venice Film Festival launches on the Lido on August 30. This edition features a slew of Oscar hopefuls including Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” David Fincher’s “The Killer,” Yorgas Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” and Michael Mann’s “Ferrari.” They’re all vying for the top prize, the Golden Lion.

Seventy years ago, there were four now-classics in competition: William Wyler’s “Roman Holiday,” for which Audrey Hepburn would win Oscar, John Huston’s “Moulin Rouge,” Samuel Fuller’s “Pickup on South Street” and Vincente Minnelli’s “The Bad and the Beautiful,” which had recently picked up five Oscars. But the Golden Lion didn’t roar at the 14th edition of the international film festival.

The jury headed by future Nobel Prize laureate in literature Eugenio Montale just couldn’t decide on the best of the fest because according to the New York Times “the quality...

Actress Rhea Seehorn discusses a few of her favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Swimmer (1968)

Linoleum (2023)

Close Encounters of The Third Kind (1977)

Young Frankenstein (1974)

The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935)

Glengarry Glenn Ross (1992)

Short Cuts (1993)

Lars And The Real Girl (2007)

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Breaking The Waves (1996)

Sound Of Metal (2020)

Starman (1984)

The Worst Person In The World (2021)

Beatriz At Dinner (2017)

Frida (2002)

The Shape Of Water (2017)

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

The Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)

The Lobster (2015)

Delicatessen (1992)

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)

The Favourite (2018)

World’s Greatest Dad (2009)

Birdman (2014)

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

The Stepford Wives (1975)

The Stepford Wives (2004)

Triangle Of Sadness (2022)

Get Out (2017)

Nope (2022)

Brazil (1985)

Safe (1995)

Withnail & I (1987)

The Fisher King (1991)

Regarding Henry (1990)

Lost in La Mancha (2002)

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote...

The iPhone has tons of hidden features just waiting to be uncovered. With a historical decade (and some change), it’s easy to see why so many features of the iPhone go unnoticed. Part of the fun of buying a new iPhone is learning what new features have been added, and some of these new additions take a bit of time to discover if they're ever found at all.

Unfortunately, these features aren’t always intuitive to figure out. Apple is notoriously vague about how they advertise certain functions. Some might get shown off in shows for Apple consumers, but only as a minor sideshow. That means these handy features get ignored in favor of the flashier.

Related: Is The iPhone 12 Worth Buying In 2023?

Safari In Background

Users can tap a link in Safari with two fingers and automatically open it in the background for future reading. On articles with quite a lot of backlinks,...

Country music royalty is headed to Big Sky: Deadly Trails. Singers Darius Rucker and Lyle Lovett will guest star in an upcoming episode of the ABC series, which also features Reba McEntire. Rucker will portray a character named Possum, who, according to the release is “a hired gun who works at night like his nocturnal namesake.” Lovett is set to play Tex, a seemingly well-mannered cowboy and tracking specialist with a hidden menacing side and partner to Possum. Lovett recently guest starred as a ranger on Blue Bloods and has appeared in movies like Short Cuts and Bastard Out Of Carolina. Rucker has appeared on reality shows The Voice and Rucker’s Reno about his renovation of a historic mansion in Charleston. “Welcome to Montana, a place where the horizon never ends, full of friendly folk just trying to do right. but in the untamed wilderness, you never know what...

Following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival Film, Noah Baumbach’s feature take of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel White Noise will also open the 60th New York Film Festival, making its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall on September 30.

In the Netflix movie, Adam Driver plays Jack Gladney, an ostentatious “Hitler Studies” professor and father-of-four whose comfortable suburban college town life and marriage to the secretive Babette (Greta Gerwig) are upended after a horrifying nearby accident creates an airborne toxic event of frightening and unknowable proportions. DeLillo’s novel is known for being a pop-philosophical nightmare on unbounded consumerism, ecological catastrophe, and the American obsession with death.

“In 1985 my father and I drove from Brooklyn to see Kurosawa’s Ran open the 23rd NYFF, the same year that he brought home the hardback of Don DeLillo’s White Noise,” said Baumbach. “Opening the 60th NYFF with White...

Andie MacDowell finally has her first chance at an Emmy nomination for Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actress for her performance as Paula Langley in Netflix’s “Maid.”

The 10-episode series tells of Alex, played by MacDowell’s real-life daughter Margaret Qualley, who leaves an abusive relationship and becomes a maid to make a better life for her and her daughter Maddy. MacDowell plays Alex’s bipolar mother Paula, an artist struggling to make ends meet. She has been strong in films like “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Groundhog Day” and “Ready or Not,” but her supporting performance in “Maid” is one of her finest, allowing her to blend vulnerability, joy and intense emotional rage. As Lucy Mangan says at The Guardian, the role of Paula is “gradually fleshed out and always played and treated with sympathy.” Emmy voters, take notice.

SEEAndie MacDowell interview: ‘Maid’

When we’re first introduced to Paula in the series premiere episode,...

Jennifer Jason Leigh also joins Pine, Annette Bening and Danny DeVito in the cast.

Fresh from her Oscar win for West Side Story, Ariana DeBose has joined the cast of Poolman, Chris Pine’s directorial debut for AGC Studios.

Jennifer Jason Leigh has also signed on for the comedy mystery, financed by AGC, joining Pine, Annette Bening and Danny DeVito in the cast.

Pine co-wrote the script for Poolman with Ian Gotler and will produce with Stacey Sher and Patty Jenkins. Matthew Jensen is serving as cinematographer. The film goes into production next month in Los Angeles, where the story is set.

Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose and Jennifer Jason Leigh have joined the cast of Chris Pine’s directorial debut Poolman. They join the previously announced cast of Pine, Annette Bening and Danny DeVito.

Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios is fully financing the project, which it launched at EFM earlier this year, and will continue to shop to buyers on the Croisette this week.

Pine directs from a script he co-write with Ian Gotler, Bening and DeVito. Pine plays Darren Barrenman, a hapless dreamer and would be philosopher who spends his days looking after the pool of the Tahitian Tiki apartment block in sunny Los Angeles and crashing city council meetings with his neighbors Jack and Diane (DeVito and Bening). When Barrenman uncovers the greatest water heist in LA history since Chinatown he makes uneasy alliances with a beautiful and connected femme fatale while following every lead he can with corrupt city officials,...

Ariana DeBose and Jennifer Jason Leigh have joined Chris Pine’s directorial debut, “Poolman.”

Fully financed by Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, the actors join an existing cast of Annette Bening and Danny DeVito. Pine also stars in the movie, which is billed as a moving tribute to Los Angeles.

Plot details for the pic are so far sparse, but “Poolman” is crafted as a nod to famous LA noirs like “Chinatown,” “The Long Goodbye,” “The Big Lebowski” and “La La Land.”

DeBose is fresh off her awards season sweep, which included Oscar, BAFTA and SAG awards for her star-making historic portrayal of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” Her other credits include “Hamilton,” “The Prom” and HBO’s “Westworld.” DeBose is also set to host the Tony Awards in June.

Meanwhile, Leigh — an Oscar nominee for “The Hateful Eight” — most recently starred in TV series “Hunters” and Lena Dunham’s “Sharp Stick.

• Salon remembers the 'gentlemanly gruffness' of Fred Ward, who has passed away at 79. We will remember him best from Henry & June, Big Business, and Short Cuts.

• IndieWire interesting report on how the streamers are all doing. It was a rough quarter given the expensive (to streamers and viewers) content wars but HBOMax is holding steady and AppleTV got an enormous boost from Coda's Best Picture Oscar win.

• Harvard Film Archives posters of queer movies over the decades from multiple countries

Character actor James Hong, Stephen King adaptations, a royal role for Christopher Walken, smoking hot silent film stars, and more after the jump...

Fred Ward, the versatile character actor who starred in films like Tremors, The Right Stuff and Henry & June during a career that spanned five decades, has died at the age of 79. Ward’s rep, Ron Hoffman, confirmed the actor’s May 8 death in a statement, though no cause of death was provided.

An Air Force veteran and amateur boxer before becoming an actor — his tough guy look and gruff exterior was attained thanks to a few broken noses in the ring — Ward was equally adept when featuring in dramas,...

Fred Ward, iconic character actor and star of films like “The Right Stuff,” “Tremors,” “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,” “Miami Blues,” and “Henry & June,” has died. He passed away on Sunday, May 8, as confirmed by his representatives. The Golden Globe winner was also known for starring in Robert Altman films like “The Player” and “Short Cuts.”

Fred Ward is survived by his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward, and his son, Django Ward.

On screens since the early 1970s after serving in the U.S. Air Force and stints as an order cook, boxer, and a lumberjack in Alaska, Ward was known for his versatility in both comic and dramatic roles. He could play author Henry Miller in “Henry & June,” the world’s first Nc-17 movie, or a dirt bike rider in “Timerider: The Aventure of Lyle Swann.” But his first major role came in Clint Eastwood’s 1979 “Escape from Alcatraz...

Fred Ward, who starred in films including “Henry and June,” “Tremors,” “The Right Stuff” and “The Player,” died May 8, his publicist confirmed to Variety. He was 79.

Among his other prominent roles were parts in “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,” “Miami Blues” and “Short Cuts.”

There was a certain retro quality to the actor’s persona that made Ward seem more akin to Humphrey Bogart or John Garfield (although not quite with those actors’ level of charisma) than to his contemporaries, and it did not seem at all affected. He appeared to be the sort of fellow who hailed from the South Side of Chicago or Hell’s Kitchen, but he was actually from San Diego.

Ward most recently appeared in the second season of HBO’s “True Detective” as Eddie Velcoro, the retired cop father of Colin Farrell’s Det. Ray Velcoro.

He recurred on NBC’s “ER” as the...

Veteran producer Joel Silver (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team Downey and Amazon Studios are partnering to develop a series of feature film and television projects based on Donald E. Westlake’s series of highly popular Parker crime fiction novels, written under the pseudonym Richard Stark.

The first project emerging from the deal will be the film Play Dirty, in which Downey Jr. (Marvel’s Avengers franchise) is set to star as Parker, a professional thief who approaches his job with a straightforward, no-nonsense work ethic. He’s a craftsman. He’s brutal, brilliant. He’s also deadly. He’s whatever it takes to get the money and get away clean. The Parker character was first introduced in 1962’s The Hunter from Pocket Books and featured in 23 other titles from Westlake, subsequently serving as the basis for such films as Parker with Jason Statham,...

Filmmaker Boaz Yakin discusses some of his favorite films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Aviva (2020)

The Harder They Fall (2021)

The Harder They Come (1972)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Fresh (1994)

Mo’ Better Blues (1990)

Safe (2012)

Scream (2022)

The Punisher (1989)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Kagemusha (1980) – Bernard Rose’s trailer commentary

Mean Streets (1973)

Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The 400 Blows (1959) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary

Yojimbo (1961)

Dodes’ka-den (1970)

Short Cuts (1993) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray commentary

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Coonskin (1975) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Fritz The Cat (1972) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

Wizards (1977)

Heavy Traffic (1973) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Warriors (1979)

Quintet (1979)

Brewster McCloud (1970) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Mash (1970)

Nashville (1975) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Dan Perri’s trailer commentary,...

Exclusive: Matthew Modine is the latest addition to the cast of Christopher Nolan’s anticipated film Oppenheimer for Universal Pictures.

He joins an ensemble led by Cillian Murphy which will also feature Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan and Jack Quaid, as previously announced.

In Nolan’s latest, which is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, Murphy will play the theoretical physicist of the same name, whose work on the Manhattan Project led to the invention of the atomic bomb. Details with regard to the character Modine is playing have not been disclosed.

Nolan is directing from his own script, with production taking place in New Mexico. He is also producing with Emma Thomas...

Veteran actor and frequent scene stealer Bruce Davison joins Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite films.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Extra School (2017)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

Willard (1971) – Joe Dante’s review, Lee Broughton’s Blu-ray review

Fortune And Men’s Eyes (1971)

Short Cuts (1993) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Longtime Companion (1989)

Last Summer (1969) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Short Eyes (1977)

The Manor (2021)

Ulzana’s Raid (1972) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review and All-Region Blu-ray review

King Solomon’s Mines (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)

Them! (1954) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

Tarantula (1955) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Spartacus (1960) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Ben-Hur (1959) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary,...

Our first episode back in the studio! Robert Weide discusses a few of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

Mother Night (1996)

Woody Allen: A Documentary (2011)

Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition (1989)

Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth (1998)

Marx Brothers in a Nutshell (1982)

W.C. Fields: Straight Up (1986)

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (2021)

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Mary Poppins (1964)

The French Connection (1971) – Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Magnificent Seven (1960) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary

The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Exorcist (1973) – Oren Peli’s trailer commentary

Patton (1970) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

Mash (1970)

Short Cuts (1993) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Lenny...

Showrunner and executive producer Molly Smith Metzler, director and executive producer John Wells, and stars Margaret Qualley and Andie MacDowell, from the critically acclaimed Netflix limited series “Maid,” will reunite to tell all about the 10-episode drama when they join Gold Derby’s special spotlight Q&a event. Watch their 30-minute roundtable chat with our senior editor Daniel Montgomery.

RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

Inspired by Stephanie Land‘s memoir “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive,” the Netflix adaptation tells the story of Alex, who leaves an abusive relationship in order to make a better life for herself and her young daughter Maddy (Rylea Nevaeh Whittet). She takes a job cleaning houses to make ends meet, but all the while she...

Chloé Zhao picked up four Oscar nominations for “Nomadland” this year as its producer, director, writer, and editor, winning the categories of Best Picture and Best Director. Zhao has been a credited editor on two of her films, “Songs My Brother Taught Me” and “Nomadland,” receiving sole editor credit on her recent Oscar winner. The director confirmed to Variety following the 93rd Academy Awards that for “Eternals,” her upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe tentpole and major studio filmmaking debut, she is not the editor. That credit is being shared by Dylan Tichenor and Craig Wood.

“No. I’m working with two incredible editors, Wood and Tichenor,” Zhao said when asked if she’s editing “Eternals” in addition to directing and co-writing the film. “And they’ve taught me so much. They were very patient with me, because they know it’s the first time that I’ve collaborated with editors that way.

Writer, director, producer Nicole Holofcener joins podcast hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss some of her favorite films.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Enough Said (2013)

True Romance (1993)

Coming Home (1978)

Bound for Glory (1976)

Hal (2018)

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

The Cowboys (1972)

Harold And Maude (1971)

Conrack (1974)

Norma Rae (1979)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Miller’s Crossing (1990)

Naked (1993)

The Short And Curlies (1987)

Short Cuts (1993)

Nashville (1975)

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

The Father (2020)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Sex, Lies And Videotape (1989)

Jaws (1975)

Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy (1955)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

World Without End (1956)

Boogie Nights (1997)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Goodfellas (1990)

Adaptation (2002)

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Lolita (1962)

The Shining (1980)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

12 Angry Men (1957)

A Serious Man (2009)

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Capote (2005)

A History of Violence (2005)

The 400 Blows...

Frances McDormand has always carved out her own path, not unlike her character, Fern, in “Nomadland.” Fern is just the latest of her roles that few other mainstream actors could play and it earned her a seventh Golden Globe bid. “Nomadland” is far and away the leader in Best Picture wins from critics’ groups and McDormand has won over a dozen Best Actress prizes. All this love could result in McDormand winning her second Golden Globe (and her third Oscar).

McDormand’s competition in Best Drama Actress at the Golden Globes is Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”) and Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”). Davis is the only other actress who comes close to McDormand’s success at the Globes, with five previous bids. Mulligan was nominated for “An Education,” Day has a concurrent nomination this...

In the Golden Globes race for Best Comedy/Musical Series, a category that will most likely boast shows about a riches-to-rags family saga, Catherine the Great and a cadre of vampires, there may not be a more unique offering than NBC’s “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” The show, which centers on programmer Zoey’s (Jane Levy) ability to hear people’s inner thoughts expressed through song, is closing in on a series nomination at the Golden Globes, currently sitting in eighth place in our combined odds. Here are five reasons why the joyous musical series deserves one of those five spots.

1. “Zoey’s” is an unconventional but compelling TV musical

The work of translating song and dance to the screen is especially tricky business. “Zoey’s” has pulled it off with aplomb, though, building in the usual absurdity of its characters breaking into song in its very premise. While the show...

Exclusive: Oscar winner Tim Robbins has been tapped as a lead opposite Leslie Mann in The Power, Amazon’s 10-episode thriller drama series based on Naomi Alderman’s feminist sci-fi book, from Sister, Alderman and director Reed Morano.

The world of The Power is our world, but for one twist of nature. Suddenly, and without warning, all teenage girls in the world develop the power to electrocute people at will. It’s hereditary, it’s inbuilt, and it can’t be taken away from them. The Power follows a cast of remarkable characters from London to Seattle, Nigeria to Moldova, as the Power evolves from a tingle in teenagers’ collarbones to a complete reversal of the power balance of the world.

Robbins will play Daniel Dandon, the self-righteous and self-important Republican governor of Washington state and constant thorn in the side of Margot Cleary-Lopez (Mann), the Democratic mayor of Seattle.

Actors portraying feminist icon Gloria Steinem might be nominated in three categories at the upcoming Golden Globes. If that happens, it will be the first time that three actors are nominated in the same year for playing the same role.

SEEDear Golden Globes: Don’t drive a stake through the heart of ‘What We Do in the Shadows,’ nominate it instead

On the TV side, Rose Byrne plays Steinem in the FX on Hulu limited series “Mrs. America,” which chronicles the struggle for women’s rights between conservative Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett) and progressive feminists led by Steinem. On the film side, Oscar winners Alicia Vikander and Julianne Moore play Steinem at different stages of her life as she rises to prominence as a leader of the women’s liberation movement in Julie Taymor‘s biopic “The Glorias.”

It is not unprecedented for two actors from the same film to be nominated for one role.

The show must go on. At least the Venice Film Festival must go on. Even a pandemic can’t stop the oldest international film festival from taking place Sept. 2 through Sept. 12 in the picturesque of grand canals. Of course, safety is first with masks, social distancing etc. are all in place as critics get a first glance at possible award-winners.

Over the past seven years, the festival has held world premieres of such Oscar-winners as 2013’s “Gravity”; 2014’s “Birdman”; 2015’s “Spotlight”; 2016’s “La La Land”; 2017’s “The Shape of Water”; 2018’s “Roma”; and 2019’s “Joker.” Only two films that won the festival’s top prize have gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars: 1948’s “Hamlet” and 2017’s “The Shape of Water.”

The festival began in 1932 as part of the Venice Biennale, the city’s legendary exhibition of the arts under the guidance of President of the Biennale, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata,...

Annie Ross, the legendary Jazz singer who was part of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross died in the early morning hours of July 22 at her home in New York City. She was 89. Ross’ former manager, Jim Coleman, confirmed the cause of death to be emphysema and heart disease.

Her nephew Domenick Allen wrote on his Facebook page, “My Aunt, Annie Ross, passed today at 2:00est in NYC. She was a Force of Nature, both in her music and in her life. I stood onstage next to her many times, and she truly was a Powerhouse. Her Jazz/standard hit was Twisted, but she was Straight Ahead all the way…I know she’ll be swinging somewhere in the Universe…”

Born Annabelle Allan Short in 1930, in Surrey, England, Ross moved to the U.S. with her Vaudeville actor parents, John and Mary Short, when she was four. She would grow...

Elvis Costello has penned a heartfelt tribute to his “dear friend,” the late producer Hal Willner, whom he worked with on a number of projects that spanned from recorded work to film and live events.

Willner died on Monday at the age of 64. The cause of death has not yet been publicly confirmed, but he was reportedly suffering from symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.

In Costello’s homage, which he posted on Facebook, he recalled a recent meetup where they listened to the T. Rex tribute album Willner helmed as...

The latest in our series of writers highlighting underappreciated films sees a recommendation for Robert Altman’s dreamlike 70s horror

When he completed Images, in 1971, Robert Altman thought to himself: “Everyone is just going to flip over this film. It’s going to be the greatest discovery since hash!” As he later acknowledged, that did not turn out to be the case – to the extent that few people even remember Images today. Partly that’s because this strange, elegant psychological horror doesn’t feel like a Robert Altman film at all. Think of Altman and you think of his orchestrated ensemble pieces – Nashville, Short Cuts, The Player, Gosford Park – or his earlier, New Hollywood genre reinventions: McCabe And Mrs Miller or The Long Goodbye. Between those last two came Images, set in a remote Irish country house, and closer in spirit to Bergman’s Persona or Polanski’s Repulsion.

Related:...

Throughout her extraordinary career, Lily Tomlin has received numerous awards, including six Emmys and a recent nomination for her narration on “An Apology to Elephants”; a Tony for each of her one-woman Broadway shows, Appearing Nitely and Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a Grammy for her comedy album, This is a Recording; and two Peabody Awards. In 2003, she was the recipient of the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Tomlin was born in Detroit, Michigan, and rose to national prominence in December 1969 in the cast of the top-rated Laugh-In. Tomlin went on to co-write, with Jane Wagner, and star in six comedy television specials, and has guest starred on numerous television shows, such as Homicide, X-Files, Will and Grace, Murphy Brown, The West Wing, NCIS, and the acclaimed FX series, Damages. She is also heard as the voice of the science teacher Ms.