News

Like a Yorgos Lanthimos movie co-directed with M. Night Shyamalan, the dark supernatural satire What Marielle Knows (Was Marielle weiss) takes a Hollywood high concept and turns it into a scathing comedy about a bourgeois family in deep crisis.

This second feature from German writer-director Frédéric Hambalek is a big step up from his no-budget debut, Model Olimpia, which mined similar conceptual terrain. Sharply designed and well-performed, if a bit thin in the long run, the film premiered in competition at the Berlinale, where it could spark interest among high-end arthouse distributors. It also has some remake potential — although a broader, more audience-friendly version would probably have to remove all the graphic sex talk and child-slapping.

If the pitch behind Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense can be summed up by the famous line “I see dead people,” the major twist in What Marielle Knows, which occurs at the very start of the movie,...

Stoner culture and horror movies go together like chips and queso—a match made in heaven (or perhaps hell). There’s something about the mind-expanding vibes of stoner humor mixed with the surreal, the gory, and the downright absurd that makes this subgenre irresistible. Whether it’s the paranoia of supernatural forces, the dark hilarity of a hapless stoner fighting demons, or the trippy visual stylings of a psychedelic horror trip, stoner horror films offer something uniquely enjoyable.

The appeal probably lies in the way these films can blend laughter and terror. Stoner protagonists are often laid-back, lovable underdogs thrust into insane scenarios, bringing an everyman charm that audiences root for. These films don’t just deliver scares—they also lean into the bizarre, often embracing wildly imaginative plots that break traditional horror conventions. With their mix of self-awareness, satire, and creative insanity, stoner horror movies are perfect for those...

Reality and nightmare collide in the upcoming thriller Sleepwalker starring Hayden Panettiere (Scream VI), and Deadline brings us more casting news this week.

Beverly D’Angelo (Violent Night), Justin Chatwin (Shameless), and Mischa Barton (The Sixth Sense) have joined Hayden Panettiere in psychological thriller Sleepwalker.

Lori Tan Chinn (Orange is the New Black), Laird Lacoste, Corinne Sweeney, Kea Ho (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), Eric Lutes (Caroline in the City), Tom DeNucci (Junction) and Rob Goon (The Roaring Game) also star, Deadline notes in their latest report.

“Sleepwalker follows a grieving mother who is haunted by the tragic loss of her daughter in a car accident that left her abusive husband in a coma. As she battles a surreal descent into darkness, her sleepwalking episodes intensify. Plagued by haunting visions of her husband inside their home, she grapples with the blurred lines between reality and nightmare.”

Leonardo DiCaprio’s...

Exclusive: Justin Chatwin (Shameless) has joined Hayden Panettiere in the psychological thriller Sleepwalker.

Also joining the cast are Beverly D’Angelo, Mischa Barton, and Lori Tan Chinn.

The film is being produced by Verdi Productions and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions.

Sleepwalker follows a grieving mother who is haunted by the tragic loss of her daughter in a car accident that left her abusive husband in a coma. As she battles a surreal descent into darkness, her sleepwalking episodes intensify. Plagued by haunting visions of her husband inside their home, she grapples with the blurred lines between reality and nightmare.

The cast is rounded out by newcomers Laird Lacoste and Corinne Sweeney alongside Kea Ho (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), Eric Lutes (Caroline in the City), Tom DeNucci...

Disney has rather tepid news to report regarding the premiere of Dan Fogelman’s Paradise. The twisty first episode lured 7 million views globally based on a random measurement of nine days of streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ in the US and Disney+ internationally.

The series dropped a surprise first episode on Hulu and Disney+ Jan. 26, ahead of the scheduled Jan. 28 debut. The premiere episode also aired on ABC and FX.

The drama starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson and James Marsden held a top spot on the Hulu Top 15 Today list throughout its first week. A view, Disney says, is defined as total stream time divided by runtime.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Fogelman explained how there are two mysteries in Paradise and why he chose to include that special twist in the pilot episode. Brown plays a secret service agent who protects the president, played by Marsden.

Back during the 2000s, there was a wave of horror movies and thrillers that were known for their big twists. In the wake of buzzy '90s megahits like "Se7en" and "The Sixth Sense," many filmmakers sought to chase the wave of word-of-mouth around constructing a tale that contained a massive plot twist at or near the finale. While third-act plot twists were by no means a new thing — the works of 19th century author O. Henry popularized the technique so much that it bore his name for a while, and Rod Serling and his writers continued that tradition during "The Twilight Zone" — they certainly became enough of a fad that, in my view, there were multiple variations on the last minute twist. There was the expertly constructed twist (as seen in those aforementioned examples along with "Fight Club" and "Saw"), which only served to expand the story you thought you had been following.

Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, the wife-and-husband producers who have 13 Oscar nominations and an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award between them, will be honored at the Oscar Wilde Awards next month.

The 19th annual event is scheduled for Feb. 27, three days before the Academy Awards, at the historic Ebell theater in Los Angeles. Actors John C. Reilly and Éanna Hardwicke will be saluted as well.

Also new to the lineup is Will Ferrell, who will introduce Reilly and hand him his trophy. The pair, of course, have co-starred in such films as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008) and Holmes & Watson (2018).

Created by the US-Ireland Alliance, the Oscar Wilde Awards celebrate the work of those from Ireland — and some who are not — who contribute to film, television and music. (Kennedy, with eight Oscar noms, and Marshall, with five, are Californians born in Berkeley and Glendale, respectively.

Super Bowl Lix has made Philadelphia and Kansas City into cultural rivals for now. This raises an interesting question: which of the two cities has the best music? When you delve into this topic, it’s not hard to pick a winner.

Before Super Bowl Lix, let’s reflect on the music Philadelphia gave us

When people think of the music industry in the United States, three cities come to mind: Los Angeles, New York City, and Nashville (though you’ll only think of Nashville if you have any regard for country and Western music). Despite this, Philadelphia has given us its fair share of heavy hitters. Some of the most iconic acts from the City of Brotherly Love include Billie Holiday, Hall & Oates, Boys II Men, Patti Labelle, Sister Sledge, Will Smith, Pink, Todd Rundgren, Chubby Checker, and Meek Mills.

Again, Philly is not NYC, but it has a pretty solid lineup of artists.

M. Night Shyamalan has come out with some comments on the one defining factor of his films: the twists that define the cat and mouse game that he usually adapts in his stories. The director tried to play it off as something that might not have been in the front of his mind, but his comments suggested otherwise.

M. Night Shyamalan || Credit: Gage Skidmore/Cc By-sa 2.0/Wikimedia Commons

As the LA Times reported in a piece on the director, M. Night Shyamalan talked about his career in films, from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, in August of 2024. The director has been notorious for his brilliant work, which is often punctuated with colossal failures that cause critics to write him off as a has been.

M. Night Shyamalan believed his plot twists might have compromised his films a little M. Night Shyamalan || Credits: Gage Skidmore/Cc By-sa 2.0/Wikimedia Commons

M.

Jake Gyllenhaal is reportedly going to star in a supernatural romantic thriller, a collaboration between M Night Shyamalan and novelist Nicholas Sparks.

Here’s a slightly unusual bit of news for you. Months after the release of his latest opus, Trap, M Night Shyamalan is about to make another thriller, this time starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Nothing too unusual about that, you might think. But in a cross-media twist, the project will involve Shyamalan writing the screenplay and Nicholas Sparks – independently, we might add – writing the novel.

According to Deadline, which has the exclusive, the project is a ‘supernatural romantic thriller’, and both Shyamalan and Sparks will base their respective works on the same ‘original love story’.

Both Shyamalan and Sparks are, of course, highly successful in their respective fields. Shyamalan’s signature film arguably remains The Sixth Sense, released in 1999, but he’s also enjoyed success with such films as Unbreakable,...

Every once in a while an entertainment collaboration comes along that feels like someone put a bunch of names in a hat and drew out a few at random. Such is the latest news from the Hollywood trades, which report that M. Night Shyamalan, Nicholas Sparks, and Jake Gyllenhaal are...

Thanks to sports, Philadelphia and Kansas City are rivals right now. One of those cities gave the Rocky movies. Another was a setting for a famous film that was mostly about Las Vegas.

Philadelphia gave us so many classic movies and Kansas City has not

So much of American popular culture revolves around major cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago. Despite this, Philadelphia is still the primary setting of some important American movies. For example, the Rocky movies have a very special relationship with Philadelphia. The famous steps Rocky Balboa runs up are part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Now, tourists can see a statue of the character near the steps.

Philadelphia even shows up in the name of the romantic comedy classic The Philadelphia Story with James Stewart and the AIDS drama Philadelphia with Tom Hanks. Other essential movies set in the city include Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie,...

Meryl Streep’s nephew Abe revealed in a New York Magazine report that the Oscar-winning actor had to a cut a “car-size hole” in her fence in order to evacuate the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this month. Streep was one of the numerous celebrities forced to flee home amid the destruction.

“My aunt Meryl Streep received an order to evacuate on Jan. 8, but when she tried to leave, she discovered that a large tree had fallen over in her driveway, blocking her only exit,” Abe wrote. “Determined to make it out, she borrowed wire cutters from a neighbor, cut a car-size hole in the fence she shared with the neighbors on the other side, and drove through their yard to escape.”

Abe spoke to other actors for his article, including Haley Joel Osment. “The Sixth Sense” Oscar nominee’s home burned down in the Altadena fire, as did his parents’ home.

M. Night Shyamalan and Apple didn’t rip off a 2013 independent movie in the making of psychological thriller series Servant, a jury has found in a verdict that highlights the difficulty creators face in substantiating claims of copyright infringement.

The California jury’s unanimous decision, delivered on Friday after a day of deliberation in the seven-day trial, ends a long-running legal battle initiated in 2020 by Francesca Gregorini. She alleged in a lawsuit seeking $81 million a conspiracy to copy almost every aspect of her film The Truth About Emanuel, which she wrote and directed, in the making of the first three episodes of Servant. Both works follow a mother who cares for a doll as if it were real to grieve the loss of a child and her relationship with a nanny she hires to take care of the doll.

The verdict reaffirms the high bar in convincing a jury that...

Steven Soderbergh is back with his first film since 2023’s “Magic Mike’s Last Dance.” His latest offering, “Presence,” is a haunted house thriller that plays with the horror subgenre’s conventions by assuming the point-of-view of its central, unsettled specter. The film continues Soderbergh’s ongoing fascination with playing with conventional form, and it marks one of the few times that the director has stepped foot into full-fledged horror territory.

“Presence” is not the first big-screen ghost story to subvert viewers’ expectations. The genre has, in fact, inspired more than a few unpredictable, jaw-droppingly inventive movies. Here are five you should watch that, like “Presence,” will keep you guessing and anxious to see what happens next.

“The Others” (Dimension Films) “The Others” (2001)

“The Others” may not be the most well-known film Nicole Kidman has ever starred in, but among those who have seen it, it is beloved. That is for good reason,...

Steven Soderbergh, the acclaimed director of Contagion, Ocean’s 11, and Traffic, has made a highly anticipated return to theatrical releases with Presence, a supernatural horror film that hit UK and Irish cinemas on Friday, 24th January. This marks the filmmaker’s first widespread cinema release in years, after a series of streaming-first projects.

Presence promises a unique perspective on the horror genre, being told entirely from the point of view of a ghost. The film stars Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels), Julia Fox (Uncut Gems), and Chris Sullivan (This Is Us), and has already garnered an impressive 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes following its debut at Sundance last year. With a script penned by David Koepp, the screenwriter behind Jurassic Park and Spider-Man, Presence blends gripping storytelling with the atmospheric tension Soderbergh is known for.

Shot during the challenging conditions of the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes, the production was made possible through...

This article contains spoilers for "Presence" and Mike Flanagan's "The Haunting of Hill House."

Breaking through to the other side and witnessing things from a ghostly plane isn't new for the horror genre. Films like "Haunter," "The Others," and "The Sixth Sense," to name a few, have all provided viewers a glimpse into the afterlife. Director Steven Soderbergh's new horror film "Presence" (check out our review here) offers a different kind of supernatural experience, as we view the entire story from a first-person paranormal perspective, featuring a ghost that only reveals itself after a death in the final act.

Early in "Presence," a medium visiting the house explains that the afterlife doesn't follow the same rules of time as ours, and the spirit is unaware of who they are or when they exist. This sets up the twist that the ghost is, in fact, Tyler Payne (Eddy Maday...

Horror movies rarely get the spotlight at the Oscars, but times are changing now, and we’ve got a new title in the coveted category of Best Picture: Demi Moore’s The Substance. The body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat follows an aging celebrity who uses a black market drug to create a younger version of herself, unsuspecting of its side effects.

Demi Moore in The Substance / Credits: Mubi

The Academy Awards hasn’t been quite generous to horror movies through the decades, and this prejudice comes from the fact that these films aren’t viewed as an artistic genre and often considered a lesser form of entertainment.

The Substance director is hopeful for a Best Picture win at the Oscars Demi Moore in The Substance / Credits: Mubi

In the past years, there were only six famous horror titles that had been nominated for Oscars’ Best Picture,...

As we wrap an epic day of coverage of the Oscar nominations, here are some final observations:

—It’s ironic that there will be no Best Song performances at this year’s 97th Academy Awards, because music-driven movies have rarely, if ever, made such an impact. This is the first time that three music-oriented/musical films have been nominated for Best Picture in the same year: Emilia Pérez (with its chart-topping 13 nominations), Wicked (with its 10), and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (with eight). The last times that even two musicals faced off for Oscar’s biggest prize was in 1964 with My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins and in 1968 with winner Oliver! and Funny Girl.

—Emilia Pérez snared more noms than any foreign language film ever with 13, to lead all comers Thursday. It joins an impressive list of other 13-time Oscar nominees that includes The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,...

Horror movies tend to be frowned upon by the bigger players of the award season, but that has never once meant that the genre is without artistic merits. While it's true that the scary segment of cinema has its share of happily cheesy slasher shlock, many of the best horror movies ever are stunning affairs with plots that can leave the viewers on the edge of their seats -- even discounting all the scares.

There have been occasional Academy Award nods for horror projects over the years, but the 2025 Oscar nominations shower a surprising amount of prestige on the genre. Both Robert Eggers' vampire film "Nosferatu" and Coralie Fargeat's body horror trip "The Substance" have landed nominations in several categories. Additionally, "Alien: Romulus" was nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar, bringing this year's Academy Award horror representation to a very respectable three movies.

The stylishly terrifying "Nosferatu" has...

Who’s afraid of a little female body horror? For once, not the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which on Thursday morning, finally opened one of the last remaining gilded doors of their annual Oscar nominations, pouring love all over filmmaker Coralie Fargeat and her “The Substance.”

The filmmaker, with just her second film, earned the sole spot for a female filmmaker in the Best Director race, in addition to helming the lone female-directed film in the Best Picture race. Meanwhile, other female filmmakers and their work were shut out not just from the picture and director race, but the entire Oscar nom kit and kaboodle, including Payal Kapadia and her “All We Imagine as Light” and Halina Reijn and her “Babygirl.”

Earlier this month, Fargeat told IndieWire at the Golden Globes that she believes horror films are fully deserving of a level playing field at the Oscars.

French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat’s body horror masterpiece The Substance was one of the best horror movies of last year, and it’s one of the rare horror films to come along in recent years that had actually been generating Academy Awards buzz. Well, the nominations for this year’s Oscars were announced today, and The Substance received some major recognition.

For starters, Demi Moore has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance, a fading celebrity who injects herself with a cell-replicating substance that literally makes her give birth to a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley). It’s a performance that already resulted in Moore taking home the Golden Globes trophy for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, which sets the stage for a potential Academy Awards win.

Coralie...

M. Night Shyamalan testified Wednesday that he and his collaborators on the Apple TV+ show “Servant” did not steal from a 2013 independent film about a delusional mother and her baby doll.

The director told jurors that the copyright dispute with “The Truth About Emanuel” director Francesca Gregorini is “clearly, 100%, a misunderstanding.”

“This accusation is the exact opposite of everything I do and everything I try to represent,” Shyamalan said.

Asked repeatedly if he had copied anything from the film, he said, “Absolutely not.”

Gregorini sued Apple, Shyamalan and others involved in “Servant” shortly after the show debuted in 2019. She alleged that the show clearly borrowed key elements of her film, which depicts a nanny who colludes with the mother in her delusion that the doll is real.

The federal trial got underway last week in Riverside, Calif. In testimony last Thursday, Gregorini said she was “shocked” when she first saw the trailer for the show.

Bruce Willis made a first public appearance since he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. Notably, the star’s appearance was connected to the Los Angeles wildfires. The actor’s wife also shared the moment for fans on social media.

The Actor Previously Retired Following His 2023 Diagnosis

Willis is a retired actor, arguably best known for playing John McClane in the Die Hard franchise. Other prominent films he’s appeared in include Pulp Fiction, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, and The Sixth Sense.

In 2022, the actor retired from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia. The following year, he was later diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

Bruce Willis – YouTube

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor’s wife Emma Heming Willis recently shared an Instagram post on Thursday. In it, Bruce made a rare appearance following his most recent diagnosis.

In the post, Bruce could be seen shaking hands with a Los Angeles police officer.

Bruce Willis recently emerged in his first public appearance after stepping away from acting due to a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia in early 2022. Best known for his renowned roles in such films as Die Hard (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994), and M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense (1999), Willis left an undeniable mark on Hollywood with a career spanning over four decades. His retirement came after facing increasing health challenges, culminating in a diagnosis of aphasia, which later progressed to frontotemporal dementia (Ftd).

A video shared via Instagram by Willis' wife, Emma Hemming Willis, shows him speaking, shaking hands, and taking photos with two of the first responders handling the wildfires in Southern California. While Willis hasn’t exclusively stayed out of the public eye since his retirement, the majority of his retirement has been spent in private with his family. Check out the video below:

View this post on InstagramA post shared...

In the age of streaming, there’s a widespread belief that every movie is available, all the time, everywhere. Don’t fall for it! Some of the greatest movies ever made are nowhere to be found due to everything from music rights snafus to corporate negligence. In this column, we take a look at films currently out-of-print on physical media and unavailable on any streaming platform in an effort to draw attention to them and say to their rights holders, “Release This!”

At the end of 1999, Entertainment Weekly ran a cover story titled “The Year That Changed Movies,” celebrating the abundance of highwire masterpieces that the American film industry seemed to be cranking out on a weekly basis that year. “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Magnolia,” “The Limey,” “Fight Club,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Election,” “Boys Don’t Cry”, “The Straight Story,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Bringing Out the Dead,” “The Matrix,” and “Three Kings” are just a random sampling,...

Bruce Willis made a rare public appearance this week to thank first responders who are battling the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles.

“Spotting a first responder, Bruce never missed a chance to show his gratitude with a heartfelt handshake and a ‘thank you for your service.’ Yesterday was no different,” Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday.

Check out the moment, which she caught on video, below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis)

In the clip, Willis is seen shaking hands and chatting with two policemen. Heming also included a photo of the Willis and one of the officers.

The 69-year-old actor, best known for his roles in “Pulp Fiction,” “The Sixth Sense” and the “Die Hard” franchise was diagnosed with aphasia in March 2022 and dementia in February 2023.

The last time the beloved actor was seen was in...

Ari Aster’s feature directorial debut Hereditary is a psychological horror story that takes the audience on a wild and terrifying ride along with the Graham family. Ari Aster's filmmaking career began with short films in the late 2000s and became widely known thanks to his 2011 short film The Strange Thing About the Johnsons. After a couple more short films, Aster made his feature-length directorial debut in 2018 with Hereditary, also written by him.

Hereditary follows the Graham family, who are grieving the death of their secretive grandmother. This begins to reveal a series of disturbing family secrets, as well as unleashing a series of sinister occurrences, including one more family tragedy. The Grahams soon learn they are no longer safe and are being watched, but the reasons behind all that are beyond what they could have ever imagined. Hereditary is not only very well-written and directed, but it also has...

Hailed as one of the modern horror maestros, M. Night Shyamalan is facing a million-dollar lawsuit for copyright infringement. Although the suit was initially filed in 2020, after Shyamalan’s series Servant started airing on Apple TV+, it was thrown out of court within months by a federal judge.

Hollywood filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (image credit: Gage Skidmore/Cc By-sa 2.0/Wikimedia Commons)

However, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revived the same in 2022, and the legal battle ensued. The first trial took place on January 14th, where Shyamalan was presented which brought the case back to the limelight.

The plaintiff, Francesca Gregorini, an Italian-born independent movie director filed the case accusing Shyamalan of adapting his series from her 2013 movie The Truth About Emanuel. However, the defense attorney claimed that Gregorini’s claims are unfounded and she is seeking credit for something she had no involvement in.

M. Night Shyamalan accused of...

When Bruce Willis vaulted from television stardom to the motion picture big time in 1988 with "Die Hard," he seemed destined for a long run as a blue-collar rake the likes of which movies had never seen. He possessed the incorrigibleness of Cary Grant and the two-fisted capableness of Gary Cooper, but he felt more accessible than either of them. Willis wasn't erudite and he wasn't trying to be. God no. His characters tended to be rough-and-tumble smartasses with moral compasses that pointed true north, men who made their share of mistakes and spent the average length of a feature film atoning for them as they went after bad men who sinned with impunity. He played well-meaning f***-ups we could identify with and perhaps look up to.

There was, however, another Willis, who I think was even more admirable. He was a true actor-star. He wanted to step outside of...

Bruce Willis had been considered among Hollywood’s most bankable stars thanks to his on-screen presence and action heroism. Over the four decades of his career, his star power made sure he pocketed some big paychecks. From investing in unknown directors to returning to popular franchises, his salary negotiations have been as quite strategic as his characters.

Bruce Willis | via Demi Moore’s Instagram

In an industry where the success of a film can be dictated by the stardom of actors, Willis has that kind of pull that makes audiences go to theaters, which has led to some payment structures like profit sharing and backend percentages that have seen him earn some pretty huge paychecks. Let’s explore five movies that reportedly gave him the biggest paydays in Hollywood.

5. Last Man Standing (1996) Bruce Willis in Last Man Standing | Credit: New Line Cinema

Walter Hill directed a neo-Western action movie, Last Man Standing,...

In 2024, Ishana Night Shyamalan released her directorial debut, The Watchers, which is now streaming on Netflix alongside some other incredible and similar horror entries. Notably, Shyamalan is the daughter of the famed director, M. Night Shyamalan, who helmed iconic films such as The Sixth Sense and Split. Ishana Shyamalan's film, released in June 2024, seems to take inspiration from her father's work. The Watchers is a supernatural horror film centered on Mina, a young artist who finds herself trapped in a strange bunker in the forest, constantly threatened by violent creatures known as Watchers.

Although The Watchers did not earn the greatest critical reviews, receiving a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is a movie that still has plenty to offer. The Watchers has an addictively eerie quality to it which is perfect for a horror film, and is reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's work. Furthermore, The Watchers boasts a strong cast,...

After the collapse of the studio system, when actors were finally given more autonomy regarding their careers and were much more free to choose the types of roles and films they'd appear in, the true test of an actor became what happened when and if they reached megastardom. Some stars love the limelight so much that they try and give their public what it is they think they want to see over and over again, and can find themselves feeling burned out or too typecast in the process. Others become much more reclusive, either outright refusing easy paycheck jobs or being extremely picky about their projects. Then there are those stars who manage to straddle the line between the commercial and artistic sides of their vocation, and are able to spin their newfound clout into a mixture of roles that demonstrate not only their range, but also their creative curiosity.

Bruce Willis found worldwide fame and critical acclaim after starring in one of the best Christmas movies of all time: Die Hard. After the 1988 film, Willis continued to star in action movies with explosions and iconic scenes.

Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard | Credits: 20th Century Studios

It was his 2nd best action franchise when he revealed that he had gotten tired of one particular thing in these films. The actor was disinterested in even talking about the film and that is why, the Red franchise will never get a third part.

Bruce Willis does not enjoy explosions anymore

It was the year 2010 when a film titled Red was released starring Bruce Willis. The film was an adaptation of the comic book mini-series of the same name which was owned by DC Comics.

Karl Urban and Bruce Willis in Red | Credits: Di Bonaventura Pictures

With a plot of...

After watching the scene in “The Substance” where Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore, repeatedly applies and wipes off lipstick in front of a mirror — a chilling metaphor for identity, erasure and self-loathing — I couldn’t have imagined that critics and awards voters would embrace it. Yet here we are, with Moore emerging as a frontrunner in the Oscar race for her career-defining performance in Coralie Fargeat’s provocative body horror film. Her Golden Globes win Sunday not only cements Moore’s legacy but also shines a long-overdue spotlight on horror as a genre worthy of awards season acclaim.

At 62, Moore is on the verge of earning her first-ever Oscar nomination for best actress. Her haunting and multilayered portrayal of an aging star who takes a mysterious serum to regain her youth — only for the experiment to spiral into a surreal nightmare — has been hailed as a masterclass in physical and emotional transformation.

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Seth MacFarlane is now (and perhaps always will be) best known as the man behind his massive animated hit shows "Family Guy" and "American Dad." MacFarlane's creations now rival the likes of "The Simpsons" and "South Park" in terms of longevity and staying power in pop culture. But MacFarlane is more than that, as evidenced by his live-action love letter to "Star Trek" aka "The Orville."

The series, which as of this writing has run for a total of three seasons, premiered on Fox in 2017. "The Orville" later moved to Hulu for its third season, which arguably changed the show for the better but that's another issue entirely. During the show's second season when it was still on Fox, it actually featured a cameo from none other than action maestro Bruce Willis. That said, viewers would be forgiven for not noticing him.

Film marketing maven Chris Pula was laid to rest this morning at a funeral held in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. A memorial for his Hollywood friends is being arranged for down the road by friends who worked alongside him in the heyday years at New Line. When Deadline revealed the marketing maven‘s passing in a New Year’s Eve post, the outpouring from the community was exceptionally strong. Especially considering Pula blazed his trail helping to create success for blockbusters from Home Alone to Dumb and Dumber, The Mask, The Sixth Sense and Se7en. And then leaving town abruptly and never looking back.

Whether one is directly part of Hollywood or orbit it as a scoop-chasing journalist, this is an all-consuming industry and we all run hard on our individual versions of a hamster wheel. One can’t help but wonder occasionally what it might be like to simply step off.

Bruce Willis' most successful film, The Sixth Sense, only happened after he had to cut a deal with Disney, who lost a significant chunk of money following the cancelation of another film he was set to star in. Released in August 1999, The Sixth Sense was a worldwide sensation and is generally considered one of Bruce Willis and M. Night Shyamalan's best movies in their respective careers.

There is a good chance that Bruce Willis would not have starred in The Sixth Sense, which could have changed the trajectory of both Willis and Shyamalan's careers, but one Willis movie set to be released just a few years prior to The Sixth Sense ended up going unfinished. Because of that fiasco, The Sixth Sense had everything it needed to become a sensation.

Bruce Willis' Canceled Broadway Brawler Movie Explained It Was Supposed To Be The Next Jerry Maguire

Intended to be...

Robert Eggers’ vampire horror Nosferatu opens in 624 UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend through Universal, having made an excellent start since New Year’s Day.

Nosferatu took £1.3m on Wednesday, January 1 from 574 sites at a £2,247 location average; with a further £870,000 on Thursday for £2.2m already banked in previews.It could become Eggers’ highest-grossing film by the end of the weekend, ahead of the totals of 2022’s The Northman(£4.7m), 2020’s The Lighthouse (£1.4m) and 2016’s The Witch (£1.2m).

The £1.3m Wednesday figure was the highest-grossing single day for a horror title in the territory since Disney’s Alien: Romulus opened with £1.4m...

While M. Night Shyamalanhas a complicated movie track record, his claim-to-fame 1999 film The Sixth Sense is still regarded as a seminal horror work today. As a result, Shyamalan's movie made the director synonymous with the twist ending. This trademark has gained him notoriety and criticism, with some audiences thinking that he over-relies on the twist. Shyamalan may have some good movies, but he has also produced a litany of critically panned projects, including The Last Airbender, After Earth, and The Happening.

In 2024, Shyamalan's two daughters joined the movie industry in two separate movies. In one of them, Suleka Shyamalan acted in her father's psychological thriller film Trap. Suleka played Lady Raven, the Taylor Swift-esque popstar at the heart of the movie. In addition, Shyamalan's other daughter made her directorial debut with a horror film this year. This movie was not well-received by critics at the time but is now...

Many of the movies released in 2024 surprised their audience with their shocking twist endings. Considering the status of movies like Psycho, The Sixth Sense, and Planet of the Apes, it's clear that a well-made film with a surprising twist at the end can create quite a legacy. The way 2024's stories pulled off these twists and the reception they've received have helped make them some of the best movies of 2024.

Whether or not the movie twists were predictable, some of 2024's films featured clever subversions of their stories that sent powerful messages to audiences. Such movie twists even warrant a second watch, so audiences can see what they missed the first time. All in all, 2024 cinema has contained plenty of surprises, but five films in particular featured the most jaw-dropping twist endings of the year.

Smile 2 The Monster Traps Skye In A Prolonged Illusion

After seeing the popular first film's twist ending,...

In 1999 “The Sixth Sense,” a spooky-ooky movie involving ghosts and a freaky little kid who sees them, opened theatrically and quickly became a cultural sensation and a box office juggernaut. It would end up earning $672 million at the global box office and garnering six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Its signature line of dialogue (“I see dead people”) would enter the lexicon, endlessly quoted, parodied and spoofed.

But there was another, very similar, equally wonderful movie that opened in 1999 that didn’t get nearly the attention that it deserved – or, indeed, the attention that was bestowed upon “The Sixth Sense.”

That movie was writer/director David Koepp’s “Stir of Echoes,” which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and as such has a brand-new 4K Uhd Blu-ray disc out (available exclusively through Amazon). And, incredibly, one of the new special features details how Koepp was...

When The Sixth Sense hit theatres in 1999, it not only catapulted M. Night Shyamalan to fame but also became one of the most iconic thrillers of all time, remembered for its jaw-dropping twist ending. According to the film’s star, Haley Joel Osment, surprisingly little effort was required to keep the movie’s major twist a secret from audiences.

Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (1999) | Credit: Hollywood Pictures

Starring Bruce Willis and Osment, the film became a massive success, earning legendary status for its intricate storytelling and the remarkable performances of its cast. However, while reflecting on today’s spoiler-heavy culture, Osment noted that the filmmakers didn’t have to work too hard to prevent the shocking ending from being revealed.

Haley Joel Osment reflected on how The Sixth Sense kept its iconic twist hidden with minimal effort

Having a tragic start, Malcolm Crowe’s, portrayed by Bruce Willis,...

You know, in the filmmaking world, there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors. Directors, actors, producers—they all make it look easy, like the magic is happening effortlessly. But behind the scenes, it’s a whole different story. It’s the moments of doubt, hesitation, and vulnerability that often make the biggest impact. Just ask M. Night Shyamalan, whose heart probably skipped a beat when he had to ask Bruce Willis for a retake while filming The Sixth Sense.

Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense (1999) | Credit: Hollywood Pictures

During a particularly tense scene, Shyamalan wasn’t happy with how the take turned out. He could’ve stayed silent, let it slide, and hoped it would work in the editing room. Instead, he did something that took a lot of guts—he asked Willis to do that scene again.

M. Night Shyamalan’s risky request: Asking Bruce Willis for a...

Warning: this article contains a murder-suicide topic.

The Sixth Sense's twist is one of the most well-known of all time, yet when The Others was released two years later, it surprised audiences with the same twist. This was impressive, as many people know The Sixth Sense's shocking ending, even without seeing the movie, which is about a boy named Cole, who tells his therapist that he can see dead people. M. Night Shyamalan's plot twists have become an expected pattern in his movies, and The Sixth Sense made him a household name. However, despite being a more haunting movie, The Others has attracted less attention.

The Others has often been considered one of Nicole Kidman's best movies. Kidman plays Grace Stewart, who lives in a remote country house with her children, who are both sensitive to light. When three people arrive, all seeking employment, Grace hires them as house staff,...

Across his near-40-year career, David Koepp has delivered several iconic adaptations of genre properties, the most notable being that of the Jurassic Park franchise, co-writing the original with author Michael Crichton, writing the sequel and returning for the upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth. But situated among his more popular works in the '90s and early 2000s is what's still one of his most thrilling and underrated efforts with Stir of Echoes, which also marked his second time in the director's chair.

Stir of Echoes follows Tom Witzky, portrayed by Kevin Bacon, who begins experiencing unsettling visions after being hypnotized by his sister-in-law. As these spectral occurrences intensify, Tom finds himself drawn into unraveling the mystery surrounding a girl's ghost.

Release Date  September 10, 1999Rating  RRuntime  99 minutesGenres  Mystery, Thriller, HorrorCast  Rosario Varela, James Andelin, Chalon Williams, Conor O'Farrell, Zachary David Cope, Stephen Eugene Walker, Lisa Lewis, Larry Neumann Jr., Mary Kay Cook,...

Steven Spielberg's horror hit from 49 years ago has left an enduring legacy that movies today have yet to rival. Jaws came out in June 1975 and immediately awed audiences. The movie follows a police chief who is determined to catch a great white shark after a series of shark attacks close to shore, leading to Jaws' iconic ending sequence. Spielberg's shark hunting movie combined hints of action and adventure with a thrilling horror that changed how people understand the success of movies, and the danger of sharks, to this day.

However, both the immediate and enduring popularity of Spielberg's Jaws remains an outlier in the horror genre. Beyond its reputation as one of the most iconic and best monster movies of all time, Jaws set numerous box office records and was met with praise from critics. Jaws is even responsible for popularizing the term "blockbuster" when referring to a successful film,...

In many ways, an ending can make or break a movie. Think about a film like 2000’s “Pay it Forward,” a schmaltzy, sentimental drama about a child who inspires others to put good deeds out into the world with no expectation of anything coming back their way. In the hands of director Mimi Leder and led by strong performances from Haley Joel Osmont and Helen Hunt, the film manages to serve its purpose and tell a compelling story about being of service to others, all of which is undercut in its conclusion when Osmont’s 12 year-old character is stabbed to death at school. It’s a horrible, traumatic wrap-up for a film that otherwise preaches goodness, like having George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life” fall into a manhole as he was running through Bedford Falls to reunite with his family.

For some films, their entire structure is built around the ending,...

While horror movies are typically not in contention for the most high-profile awards in the movie industry, there have been several notable exceptions over the years, particularly in regard to the Academy Award for Best Picture. The horror genre has undergone somewhat of a renaissance in recent years, with high-concept horror narratives usurping cheap gore and jump-scares. Hollywood A-listers have begun to embrace the horror genre as a more respected form of cinema, with film icons like Halle Berry, Nicolas Cage, Hugh Grant and Al Pacino all involved with horror movies in the last year.

As well-received as some of the best horror movies of all time have been, the genre in general has typically remained excluded from the most prestigious award lists. However, the tide could be turning with some of the more recent horror releases. Robert Eggers' vampire movie Nosferatu has already been entered on some Academy Award lists,...

Historically, horror has been a hugely popular movie genre, yet often overlooked by critics and award ceremonies like the Academy Awards. This perceived snub stems from a long-held belief that horror, with its emphasis on scares and thrills, is somehow less "elevated" than other genres. Blockbuster actions have faced a similar bias, with the implication being that they are more designed for pure entertainment than artistic merit.

While the Academy has gradually begun to acknowledge the artistry behind horror, the genre still faces an uphill battle for true recognition. The tide does seem to be changing, inspiring bold predictions for the 2025 Oscars. Additionally, although the Academy has a reputation for not recognizing horror, quite a few horror films have been nominated for and won Oscars. However, the majority of these wins focus on their visual spectacle with both impressive practical effects and CGI in horror movies.

Why There's A Belief...