News

Hulu has revealed the official trailer and poster for Prom Dates, the coming-of-age comedy film that will debut on the streaming service on Friday, May 3.

Prom Dates follows best friends Jess and Hannah, who made a pact at 13 to have the perfect senior prom. Despite the impending changes that college will bring over the next four years, the two are committed to honoring their prom pact.

But with only 24 hours left before the big event, everything falls apart when they break up with each of their dates. Jess and Hannah are left with one night to find new dates and live out their middle-school fantasies.

The film was directed by Kim O. Nguyen and written by D.J. Mausner (Baroness Von Sketch Show). It was produced by American High and Hartbeat.

The movie stars Julia Lester (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series), Antonia Gentry (Ginny & Georgia), Kenny Ridwan (The Goldbergs...

Updated, 9:09 a.m.: “Miguel, have you ever gotten into a fight?” Tyler Dean Flores’ high schooler is asked in the first trailer for the Hulu Original Film, Miguel Wants to Fight. “It’s like what everyone does.”

He once got into an altercation outside of a grocery store, involving “aggressively hugging,” he recalls. But realizing that this doesn’t count, he succumbs to a bit of peer pressure, embarking on a series of misadventures with his three best friends — the stoic David (Christian Vunipola), the rowdy Cass (Imani Lewis) and the quick-tongued Srini (Suraj Partha) — as he tries to get into his first real brawl.

Read more about the film, arriving on Hulu on August 16th, below. Check out the trailer above.

Previously, July 19: Hulu on Wednesday unveiled a series of first look photos for Miguel Wants to Fight — its eighth Original Film from American High (Big Time Adolescence...

The Netflix movie sequel “Murder Mystery 2,” which premieres March 31st, is the highest-profile directing gig Jeremy Garelick has ever landed. But it’s really more like an extra-curricular activity for the veteran writer, producer and director.

Garelick is best known for “American High,” the teen-movie franchise he launched at Hulu after making the audacious move of spending $1 million to buy a building that once housed a high school in Syracuse, N.Y., in 2017. The purchase enabled him to make multiple films at a third of the cost.

But “Murder Mystery 2” is a bigger-budget affair with more exotic locations than Syracuse — Honolulu and Paris, to be exact. He got the directing assignment having earned the respect of the film’s stars including Jennifer Aniston, who also starred in “The Break Up,” a 2006 romantic comedy Garelick co-wrote. That film was his career breakthrough.

Listen to the podcast here:

“I was...

Exclusive: Netflix alum Natalie DeVito has signed a first-look deal with Jeremy Garelick and Will Phelps’ American High.

During her four-plus years at Netflix, which ultimately had her serving as Manager, Original Independent Features, DeVito was heavily involved in the development and production of such female-driven YA projects as writer-director Sophia Alvarez’s Along for the Ride—based on the novel by Sarah Dessen—and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s upcoming Do Revenge. She worked at Focus Features and Universal Pictures prior to her time at the streamer, and is a proud alum of the The University of Texas at Austin and the NBC Page Program.

“Having experienced three different high schools across state lines, I’m thrilled to be partnering with American High, a company founded on the belief that high school, with all its ups and downs, is the shared experience that brings us all together,” said DeVito. “Garelick...

Exclusive: The CW and More/Medavoy are developing a one-hour series based on the critically acclaimed, irreverent novel The Viagra Diaries. The theme of the book is the raucous exploration of love, romance, sexism, and the search for happiness at any age in a modern/digital time. The project’s executive producers are Erwin More and Brian Medavoy (American High, Just Shoot Me). Alan Nevins and Suzy Unger are also on board to produce. The book, written by author and…...

On Saturday, the biggest names in entertainment, journalism, sports, and music joined educators, parents, and more for “Eif Presents: Xq Super School Live,” a one-hour telecast and multi-platform event that invited the public to help rethink the future of American high schools.

DJ Khaled and son Asahd Tuck Khaled speak onstage during the Xq Super School Live

Credit/Copyright: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Eif

Among the stars who took part were J.J. Abrams, Mahershala Ali, Kelsea Ballerini, Maria Bello, Cate Blanchett, Chance the Rapper, Common, James Corden, Miranda Cosgrove, Cindy Crawford, Portia Doubleday, Michael Ealy, Kevin Frazier, Matt FX, Bill Hader, Tony Hale, Tom Hanks, Salma Hayek Pinault, Sean Hayes, Samuel L. Jackson, Allison Janney, Jax, DJ Khaled, Gayle King, Norman Lear, Marshawn Lynch, Rami Malek, Thomas Mann, Joel McHale, Alano Miller, Hasan Minhaj, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Maren Morris, David Muir, Randall Park, Chris Paul, Tanika Ray, Conrad Ricamora, Melissa Rivers,...

On Friday, all the U.S. networks joined forces to broadcast the “Xq Super School Live” TV special, a star-studded hour-long invitation for viewers to “help rethink the future of American high schools.” Along with appearances by such celebrities as Justin Timberlake, U2, Chance the Rapper, Mahershala Ali, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Viola Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, J.J. Abrams, Kelly […]...

Today, Xq Institute and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (Eif) announced that more stars will participate in “Eif Presents: Xq Super School Live,” a one-hour telecast and multi-platform event that will invite the public to help rethink the future of American high schools.

Among those set to participate are J.J. Abrams, Kelsea Ballerini, Maria Bello, Cate Blanchett, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Michael Ealy, Matt FX, Salma Hayek Pinault, Sean Hayes, Allison Janney, Jax, DJ Khaled, Gayle King, Norman Lear, Marshawn Lynch, Joel McHale, Alano Miller, Hasan Minhaj, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Maren Morris, David Muir, Chris Paul, Tanika Ray, Conrad Ricamora, Adam Rodriguez, Al Roker, Ian Somerhalder, Karla Souza, Ringo Starr, Justin Timberlake, U2, Chris Wallace, Matt Walsh, Reggie Watts, D’Wayne Wiggins, and Jesse Williams, as well as East Los High stars Ashley Campuzano, Jorge Diaz, and Danielle Vega.

The live special will also include musical performances by Kelly Clarkson, Jordan Fisher and Hunter Hayes.

Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Mahershala Ali, Tony Hale, Bill Hader, Christian Slater, Common, Randall Park, Rami Malek, Portia Doubleday, Thomas Mann, Anna Deavere Smith, Miranda Cosgrove, Melissa Rivers, Kevin Frazier and many more will participate in “Eif Presents: Xq Super School Live,” a special one-hour telecast which will invite the public to help rethink the future of American high schools.

They will join Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, who also serve as executive producers, in the all-star telecast, which will air live from Los Angeles on all four major U.S. networks – ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC – on Friday, Sept. 8 at 8:00-9:00 Pm Et live/Pt tape-delayed.

In September 2015, Xq: The Super School Project launched an open call to rethink and design the next American high schools. Since then, thousands of communities across the country have come together to reimagine high school education. “Eif Presents: Xq Super...

Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will executive-produce “Eif Presents: Xq Super School Live,” a special one-hour telecast event which will invite the public to help rethink the future of American high schools.

The announcement was jointly made today by Xq Institute and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (Eif). The telecast will combine live musical, comedy and documentary segments to bring to life the past, present and future of the American high school system. The event will air live from Los Angeles on all four major U.S. networks – ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC – on Friday, Sept. 8 at 8:00-9:00 Pm Et live/Pt tape-delayed.

In addition to Davis and Tennon, the star-studded event in support of the national education initiative will be produced by Done + Dusted and directed by Hamish Hamilton. Through live musical performances, comedic sketches, and more, the program will challenge viewers to understand that rethinking high school...

Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present, and future.

Like any filmmaker, Amanda Lipitz is eager for audiences to turn out for her latest project, the Sundance award-winning documentary “Step.” But Lipitz isn’t eyeing big box office bucks or pushing to topple a rival feature; she just wants the inspirational film to get in front of the people who will be most moved by it, even if they can’t afford the price of admission.

Bolstered by similar campaigns — including a popular push for last year’s “Hidden Figures” — Lipitz and her team think they’ve figured out a way to do just that.

The film, Lipitz’s first, centers on a girls-only step team from inner city Baltimore, and chronicles their senior year as they attempt to win one last big competition, prepare for their future, and face personal hurdles. Even in January,...

Exclusive: Jeremy Garelick, the screenwriter whose work includes The Break-Up, The Hangover and The Wedding Ringer, has teamed up with Mickey Liddell’s Ld Entertainment to launch American High. Staked with a $50 million, the new company will generate a slate of high school-set comedy features. Garelick will tap his relationships to hatch the films, which will be shot in a recently acquired 100,000 sq-ft high school-turned-studio in Syracuse, New York. "The films that…...

Fox Searchlight has released the official trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, with lush, dreamlike footage fully supporting the studio’s description of the film as “an other-worldly fairy tale.” Underwater scenes that manage to recall both Night of the Hunter and Creature From the Black Lagoon suggest del Toro at his most enticing. The film is set in Cold War 1963, with an American high-security government lab hiding a top-secret experiment: an “aquatic…...

Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)

This week’s (exceedingly difficult) question: In honor of our nation’s upcoming birthday, what is the movie that still makes you most proud to be an American? Or, for foreign critics: What film most compelling sells you on the promise of America’s potential?

Joshua Rothkopf (@joshrothkopf), Time Out New York

I know there are movies that are more complex, but “Apollo 13” gets me every time. It begins with the cynical idea of an American Dream that’s already in the rearview mirror: Moon launches, once the pride of a nation, have become routine — yesterday’s news. But journalists swarm when the orbiting crew falls into jeopardy.

The Cornetto Trilogy may have come to a close with The World’s End, but it’s not the end of the world for British comedians/BFFs Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The frequent collaborators and real-life friends have started a new production company called Stolen Picture, and have already set their first project, Deadline reports. The film will feature Pegg and Frost’s signature blend of nerdy comedy and slapstick horror, with a supernatural premise reminiscent of anime and/or manga series combining survival horror and high-school drama.

Called Slaughterhouse Rulez, the film takes place in a boarding school where a sadistic posse of sixth-formers (similar to American high-school seniors) terrorizes the younger students—that is, until a fracking site opens up a sinkhole on the school grounds. From that sinkhole emerges an ancient evil, turning the school’s pecking order upside down and pitting teachers against students...

With the recent heavy media spotlight placed on police brutality, “La 92” does not seem as though it consists of footage from 25 years ago. The new National Geographic Documentary film finds itself immersed in the tumultuous period of the Rodney King trial and riots.

Read More: National Geographic and Jason Silva Tell Humanity’s ‘Origins’ Story – Exclusive First Look

The official synopsis states, “…after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, ‘La 92,’ revisits the period through stunning and rarely seen archival footage.”

The film is produced by two-time Oscar winner Simon Chinn (“Man on Wire”) and Emmy winner Jonathan Chinn (“American High”) and directed by Oscar winners Dan Lindsay and Tj Martin (“Undefeated”), the film looks at the events of 1992 from a multitude of vantage points, bringing a fresh perspective to a pivotal moment that reverberates to this day.

Author: Stefan Pape

Though the shooting of Trudie Styler’s Freak Show predates the victory of a certain Donald Trump, it’s a film that feels remarkably pertinent, exploring the perpetual conflict between free-thinkers and the narrow-minded, the liberals against the ignorant – and how it seems that, in most cases these days, it’s the latter who come out on top. This is an incongruity that has been studiously, and playfully examined in this indelible drama, through the prism of cross-dressing teenager Billy Bloom.

Alex Lawther makes his American debut in the aforementioned role, a young man who thrives in being fabulous. Owing much to his eccentric, gloriously extravagant mother – who he affectionately calls Muv (Bette Midler), he is forced to go and live with his far more conservative father (Larry Pine) and thus begin life at a new school. Contemplating toning down his vibrant choice of attire, he thinks better of it,...

Archie may have been born as a comic book character, but it was Greg Berlanti and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa who gave him a superhero physique. That is not a critique, but it is perhaps the first thing you might notice about the CW’s new take on the 76-year-old all-American high schooler, now making his live action television debut.

Read More: ‘Riverdale’: CW’s Lynchian Archie Just Missed Becoming a Time-Travel Show Starring Louis C.K.

“Riverdale” could be seen as a “Island of Doctor Moreau”-esque attempt to cross-breed the DC TV universe currently thriving on the CW with a “Gossip Girl”-style teen drama made which was so popular in the CW’s early days. In fact, that might be the easiest way to describe it. And yet there’s just enough happening underneath the surface to make it worthy of deeper study. This is no zombie corpse of a comic book adaptation.

Meet Peter Parker. You know him, of course; he’s the crime-fighter by night, high-schooler by day that’s headlined Marvel’s Spider-Man saga for generations and in 2017, director Jon Watts will deliver what is arguably shaping up to be one of the more faithful adaptations of Parker yet in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Unlike previous feature films, Homecoming will roll back the years to follow Peter Parker as he navigates life in high school. Juggling homework and bullies with pummeling baddies and saving the city, Marvel’s new take on the character is something Tom Holland has embraced with arms wide open and here, while chatting to ShortList Magazine (via Cbm), the British actor touched base on Parker’s educational woes and the infamous bully known as Flash Thompson.

“American high schools are so different to British ones. Bullying wasn’t really a thing, so when they cast Flash Thompson they...

Tony Revolori is a great actor, but he's not exactly very intimidating. For that reason, it's been hard to imagine how exactly he'll bully Tom Holland's Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Well, it appears as if the upcoming reboot will take things in a very different direction as the British actor has revealed in a new interview with Short List Magazine that he'll pick on Puny Parker verbally instead. "American high schools are so different to British ones," Holland said in regards to the time he spent undercover in a Us high school to prepare. "Bullying wasn't really a thing, so when they cast Flash Thompson they knew they didn't need a 6ft 5in jock to beat Peter Parker up. They needed a rich, smug kid commenting on how bad his trainers were. And I did it to practice my American accent." As for what it was like to...

In the annals of drama among the rich, high-society set, few scandals top the allegation that Claus von Bulow tried to murder his heiress wife, Sunny, exactly 36 years ago, with a fatal injection of insulin as she slept.

Sunny von Bulow was found unconscious on the floor of her bathroom at their seaside mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, on Dec. 21, 1980. Nearly 28 years later, at age 76, she died in a nursing home on New York City’s Upper East Side on Dec. 6, 2008, having never emerged from an irreversible coma.

In between, Claus, a dashing, philandering, finely-tailored Danish aristocrat, engaged in a...

Update: Zdf Enterprises, Fisher King, BeIN and Netflix deals; Fmi acquires War Child doc sales rights.

The blurring of the lines between film and TV as well as the platforms on which both features and series are distributed was a recurrent theme at Mipcom on Tuesday.

At a panel on the the crossover of talent from film to TV, speakers See-Saw Film‘s COO Hakan Kousetta, eOne Television president of global scripted programming Pancho Mansfield and Wme Img partner Chris Rice were unanimous that there was no turning back the trend.

“We’ve stopped looking at them as different,” said Rice, who helped package the BBC’s The Night Manager and Canal Plus, Sky Italia and HBO’s The Young Pope. “Virtually ever actor and director has come round to this. It’s a great time to tell stories.”

Kousetta said See-Saw Films had expanded into TV from a feature film base “accidentally” after Australian Oscar and Cannes...

Zdf Enterprises, Fisher King, BeIN and Netflix deals; Fmi acquires War Child doc sales rights.Zdf Enterprises and Fisher King Ltd sign first-look deal

Zdf Enterprises and Fisher King Ltd, the award-winning Finnish production company of producer Matti Halonen and director Miikko Oikkonen have signed a first-look deal. Under the accord, Zdf Enterprises will have exclusive, first-look rights to all scripted content developed by Fisher King, to serve as a financier and handle worldwide distribution.

The first project selected under the project is the character-driven thriller series Watchdog set against the backdrop of contemporary European legal, financial and insurance institutions with Helsinki, London and The Hague as key locations.

Fisher King’s previous dramas include Bordertown which premiered on Finnish broadcaster Yle on Oct 16, capturing 26% of the territory’s audience.

Eao report

European feature films account for 31% of all films broadcast in Europe, according to a new report released by the European Audiovisual Observatory at Mipcom.

Breaking...

Ridiculous athleticism runs in ex-nfl star Randall Cunningham's family. The proof ... his 18-year-old daughter has her sights set on a gold medal, 'cause she's one of the nation's best high jumpers. Vashti Cunningham's a Huge Deal in track & field circles ... in fact, there's not a woman alive who's recorded a better jump in 2016. Vc's career best is only 3 inches shy of the all-time world record. Her father ... and coach, Randall Cunningham -- one of...

Freaks and Geeks is arguably one of the most authentic television shows about the American high-school experience — the social ineptitude, the awkwardness, the struggle to figure out who you are and where you fit in. But most histories of the show focus on the so-called cool kids, the ones who were almost defiantly confident about who they were. Perhaps it’s because, like Lindsay Weir, we gravitate toward people who seem to have it all figured it out, even if it’s just an act. Perhaps it’s because James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segel became famous faster. Whatever the reason, the geeks have been underserved — and their time is now. Martin Starr is a regular on Silicon Valley, John Francis Daley had his directorial debut with Vacation, and Samm Levine just reprised his role from Wet Hot American Summer in the Netflix prequel. So without further ado,...

Filmmaker Debra Granik earned an impressive four Oscar nominations for 2010's "Winter's Bone," including best picture, actress (Jennifer Lawrence), supporting actor (John Hawkes) and adapted screenplay. Clearly all the talent on display in 2004's "Down to the Bone," which boosted the career of Vera Farmiga, was not a flash in the pan. What was the deliberate New York filmmaker, who works closely with producer-writer Anne Rossellini, going to do next? Well, she pursued several promising projects that have yet to come to fruition. Among them were "American High Life," a possible HBO series created by young writer Nicki Paluga, and Granik's film version of Russell Banks' novel "Rule Of The Bone," marking the third part of her unofficial osteo-trilogy, about an abused 14-year-old Jamaican-American who turns to drugs, gets kicked out of his home, and returns to Jamaica to find his father. Banks was optimistic that a cast of unknowns and names would.

Keva Rosenfield's All American High: Revisited is something like unburying an ancient relic, or perhaps your old high school yearbook with dated wardrobe and coiffure. But it's more explicit than that. You hear the dialog, you see the 80's swagger, it has aged into a timeless record of a now exotic time. Today, this lifestyle feels so distant -- fun even. Director Keva Rosenfield and I discuss why that is, and what those comparisons mean going forward.

All American High: Revisited is just that. A recap on the 1985 documentary that followed the Finnish exchange student Rikki's assimilation into the ways of the American High School (with that Californian tinge). The original 16mm negative has been restored to 2K and reformatted for the big screen. It also includes an additional section that takes place 30 years later, where we revisit with some of the classmates.

These kids really give you access to everything.

Welcome back to Stay Tuned, Vulture's TV advice column. Each Wednesday, Margaret Lyons answers your questions about your various TV triumphs and woes. Need help? Have a theory? Want a recommendation? Submit a question! You can email staytuned@nymag.com, leave a comment, or tweet @margeincharge with the hashtag #staytuned. Even though I'm older now, I still love a good teen-based show. I'm worried I've seen them all, though. What do I watch next? —Lauren I'm with you, Lauren. I love teen shows. It might actually be my favorite genre, which is why I've put together a list of 101 of them for you. Enjoy.The GREATSThese shows are required viewing for fans of teen TV and pretty close to required viewing for TV literacy in general. They're in alphabetical order because I'm not trying to start a riot. American High (2000): One of the best documentary-style reality shows ever. High-school...

This return to a real-life Fast Times at Ridgemont High shows what happened to some of the documentary’s original interviewees.

In 1984, director Keva Rosenfeld made a documentary about life at a high school in Torrance, southern California; a sort of real-life Fast Times at Ridgemont High, that screened on public television in the States and sank quickly into obscurity. Thirty years later, the film – now a time-capsule of embarrassing 80s fashions and mobile-phone-free lifestyles – has been freshened up with a 20-minute coda showing what happened to some of the interviewees. Somewhat predictably, rebels have become cops, preppie girls with Princess Di haircuts have become lefty educationalists, cheerleaders work in marketing, stoners regret not studying more, and almost no one is pursuing the career they’d imagined in high school. At least the cheerful Finnish exchange student, the original film’s narrator, seems settled and contented. Neither the 80s material...

Lucio Fulci’s 1980 film The Beyond is largely regarded as his masterpiece, and it’s hard to disagree with that sentiment. The Italian filmmaker had a long and varied career working across a number of genres, including fantasy, westerns and, most famously and frequently, horror. The Beyond finds him in total control of both his obsessions and his abilities, blending his penchant for nightmare logic, abstract formalism and, of course, gushy, gushy gore. Fulci gotta Fulci.

It’s practically useless to try and explain the movie’s plot, as this isn’t a movie that’s contingent on story. Any attempt to understand what’s really going on will more than likely lead to further frustration; better to let the images and tone of the thing wash over you. It begins with the murder of a man at the hands of an angry mob, an event which opens one of...

HBO has acquired the television rights to the documentary 3 1/2 Minutes.  The network made the announcement Saturday about the film, which premiered at Sundance on Jan. 24. The deal was brokered by HBO, Submarine's Josh Braun and Participant Media's Jeff Ivers. See more The Scene at Sundance Film Festival 2015 The doc's subject is the 2012 fatal shooting of unarmed 17 year-old African American high-school student Jordan Davis. Davis was shot and killed by Michael David Dunn who fired ten bullets over a dispute at a gas station in Jacksonville, Fla. The film documents the brutal shooting as well as

read more...

Esquire Network will go behind the scenes of Clay Aiken's failed congressional bid with a new docuseries. The NBCUniversal-owned cable network announced late Tuesday — following Aiken's defeat in North Carolina — that camera crews have been documenting the American Idol alum's bid for a seat in the House. The four-hour untitled docuseries, from Academy Award winner Simon Chinn (Searching for Sugar Man, Man on Wire) and Emmy winner Jonathan Chinn (American High), will premiere in the first quarter of 2015. The Lightbox duo have been filming from inside Aiken's campaign since his February candidacy announcement, through

read more...

Filmmaker Debra Granik earned an impressive four Oscar nominations for 2010's "Winter's Bone," including best picture, actress (Jennifer Lawrence), supporting actor (John Hawkes) and adapted screenplay. Clearly all the talent on display in 2004's "Down to the Bone," which boosted the career of Vera Farmiga, was not a flash in the pan.  What was the deliberate New York filmmaker, who works closely with producer-writer Anne Rossellini, going to do next? Well, she pursued several promising projects that have yet to come to fruition. Among them were "American High Life," a possible HBO series created by young writer Nicki Paluga, and Granik's film version of Russell Banks' novel "Rule Of The Bone," marking the third part of her unofficial osteo-trilogy, about an abused 14-year-old Jamaican-American who turns to drugs, gets kicked out of his home, and returns to Jamaica to find his father. Banks was optimistic that a...

Pretty Little Liars reaches its hundredth episode, but has it lost the plot along the way? Here's Caroline's review...

Review

This review contains spoilers.

5.5 Miss Me X 100

When a show reaches 100 episodes, it’s hard not to get nostalgic and look back at the episodes that led here, the state of characters and relationships now rather than five seasons ago and where, potentially, the series can go from here. The hundredth episode of Pretty Little Liars makes a lot of that hard to do, basically because we know there are still 70-odd episodes to come, but also because it’s meandered so much that it’s almost impossible to recognise what it is anymore.

Is it about the ubiquitous monsters under the beds of young women, as Spencer and Alison mused last week, or about the rise of cyber bullying in American high schools? Is it a camp soap opera...

Even 11 years later, network TV has never aired anything else quite like Joe Millionaire, Fox’s groundbreakingly cruel, incredibly popular Reality 1.0 experiment. The basic premise, as if you could ever forget: 20 money-hungry airheads arrive at a gorgeous French chateau to compete for the affections of Evan Marriott, a man who has just inherited more than $50 million. They have no idea that Evan’s money is as fake as their eyelashes – he’s actually a blue-collar construction worker.

Joe piled artifice on top of artifice: Its breakout character was Marriott’s “butler,” played by professional actor Paul Hogan. The Smoking Gun...

Exclusive: Director-producer R. J. Cutler has signed a first-look development deal with CBS Television Studios for scripted projects. The deal formalizes Cutler’s relationship with the studio where he has worked on several projects, including directing last season’s drama pilot The Ordained. “We’ve had such a great time developing material over the past couple of years that it just seemed a natural transition to make CBS Studios my scripted television home,” Cutler said. “Can’t wait to get started on creating a new series together.” Cutler most recently had a first-look deal at Lionsgate TV, where he executive produces the studio’s sophomore ABC drama Nashville (whose pilot he also directed). Cutler will continue as Ep on the series if it is renewed for a third season, as expected. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker (The War Room) and Emmy-winning television producer (American High) also has a first-look deal at Showtime for documentaries.

You knew it was only a matter of time. After Netflix scored with original programming like "Orange Is the New Black" and "Arrested Development," Amazon quickly jumped into the game -- and now Xbox is, too. Pretty soon, look forward to new shows from your microwave and blender. Xbox will launch Xbox: Originals this June with 12 projects. They will be available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and other Microsoft devices, and, of course, the shows will offer "interactive capabilities." To prove they're not kidding around, Xbox Entertainment Studios has attracted names like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott, who are attached to two separate scripted projects based on the “Halo” franchise. Because hey, you can never get enough "Halo." Other shows in production include an unscripted series about international street soccer, an original drama about robotic servants in a dystopian world, and a documentary about the search for discarded Atari games in...

Brian Medavoy and Erwin More have reunited to relaunch More/Medavoy Management, effective immediately. The duo was previously together for 15 years. In the 1990s they represented talent including Jason Bateman, Tobey Maguire, Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Mariska Hargitay, David Schwimmer, Maria Bello, Peter Berg and Jenna Elfman. More/Medavoy also produced popular TV series such as Dharma and Greg and Just Shoot Me, in addition to the R.J. Cutler-directed docuseries American High, which garnered the producers an Emmy Award in 2001. Photos: Next Gen at 20: From Jeff Shell to the Murdochs, Hollywood's Power Elite Then and Now In the

read more...

Darren Stein’s sparkling comedy G.B.F. is one of those typical American high-school set productions where every character looks like they’re more likely to be picking up their own children from school, rather than actually study there. Nonetheless, this merely sets the precedence for a picture that requires a suspension of disbelief in order to enjoy, in what is a glitzy and ultimately superficial affair – though that’s not to say it’s not rather good fun.

Michael J. Willet plays Tanner, a young, gay student reluctant to come out of the closet, in spite of his best friend Brent’s (Paul Iacono) best efforts to persuade him otherwise. In a rare lapse of concentration, Tanner is accidentally outed, and though expecting a backlash of sorts, instead he becomes one of the most popular guys in school, as the coolest girls, consisting of the likes of Caprice (Xosha Roquemore...

Psssst. Oscar voting closed 2 hours ago. Can you believe we're almost there?!

Film School Rejects good god, Warren Beatty is still going to make that Howard Hughes picture and it started shooting today (!!!) Lily Collins, Alden Ehrenreich, The Bening and the rumors go... Jack Nicholson to co-star

IndieWire porn stars pick the Oscars

E Online Jared Leto's mom reacts to going to the Oscars

/Film Sony wants to release a Spider-Man movie every year now. As I've predicted one day film and television will totally merge since tv got way more cinematic and nearly all movies Hollywood wants to fund are basically tv series with huge budgets that franchise their way across decades with new "episodes"

Variety Oscars are always under heat about omissions and hierarchies of the In Memoriam section. A sordid thing for controversy but it's true. People are always upset by something in it

Screener interesting...

The former heartthrob talks about surviving the 90s teen TV series and how he's thrown himself into directing his first full-length feature

Come with me on a journey back to the early 90s. To bleached denim and bare midriffs. To when Beverly Hills 90210 was the biggest teen show on Earth and Jason Priestley was its biggest star. His character, Brandon Walsh, was the perfect all-American high-school heartthrob: white T-shirt, big quiff and eyes to launch a raft of terrible ocean-based metaphors. When I was 11, my friend had a lifesize poster of Priestley on her wall. Now here he is: lifesize and sitting with me in a hotel bar in Glasgow, where his directorial feature debut, Cas & Dylan, is screening at the city's film festival.

Priestley is wearing a flat cap, argyle sweater and grizzly beard. "I was very much Team Dylan," I blurt, referring to the bad-boy character played by Priestley's 90210 co-star,...

It’s safe to say Felicity Jones, or That Lovely Felicity Jones to give her full name, is having a moment. She’s got roles in costume dramas (The Invisible Woman), blockbusters (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and has established a fruitful creative partnership with indie up-and-comer Drake Doremus for good measure. Now she’s in talks to play Shakespearean Bridget Jones figure, Rosaline, in Universal’s movie of the same name.Doing for Romeo And Juliet what Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead did for Hamlet (kinda), Rosaline follows the fate of Romeo’s ex. If you know the play – or have seen one of its 1700 movie adaptations – she’s all he can think about for at least the first five minutes, until Juliet comes along and he’s off like a Pepé Le Pew at a cattery. Then again, ‘Romeo & Rosaline’ was always going to be too alliterative.This one updates the tale,...

Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 16 Jan 2014 - 06:20

Another 25 unsung greats come under the spotlight, as we provide our pick of the underappreciated films of 2005...

It's underappreciated films time again, and this week, we delve deep into the year 2005 - a collection of months dominated by the likes of Star Wars: Episode III, another Harry Potter, Steven Spielberg's War Of The Worlds, Peter Jackson's King Kong, and CG family movie Madagascar.

It was also the year Pierce Brosnan formally bowed out of his role as James Bond, and Martin Scorsese's The Aviator was hyped to win the director his first Oscar, but didn't. Still, the contents of this list received nothing like the acclaim of The Aviator, nor the financial pickings of a Star Wars or Harry Potter. As ever, we've focused on 25 films which we think deserve a bit more love.

So with apologies to...

1. Xbox Gets Original: Xbox Entertainment has greenlit its first original program, a series of nonfiction films about the digital revolution, from Lightbox, a new multi-platform media company just launched by Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn ("Searching for Sugar Man," "Man on Wire") and Emmy Award winning producer Jonathan Chinn ("American High," "30 Days"). The first film in the series will investigate the events surrounding the "great video game burial of 1983" when Atari Corporation, confronting negative responses to "E.T. the Video Game" reportedly buried millions of unsold game cartridges in New Mexico. Zak Penn ("X-Men 2," "Avengers") will direct the first film. Read the full story here. 2. Vine Vanity URLs: If you've got a verified Twitter account, as soon as tomorrow, you can get a vanity URL for your Vine profile, Twitter announced and Mashable reports. Otherwise, you'll have to wait a few days until December 23rd when non-verified tweeters...

Just last week, Nancy Tellem, president of entertainment and digital for Microsoft, said that original shows would launch on the company's Xbox videogame consoles early next year. Now she has greenlit the first original series for Xbox, a series of nonfiction films about the digital revolution. The show comes from Lightbox, a new multi-platform media company just launched by Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn ("Searching for Sugar Man," "Man on Wire") and Emmy Award winning producer Jonathan Chinn ("American High," "30 Days"). The first film in the series will investigate the events surrounding the "great video game burial of 1983" when Atari Corporation, confronting negative responses to "Et the Video Game" reportedly buried millions of unsold game cartridges in New Mexico. Zak Penn ("X-Men 2," "Avengers") will direct the first film. The series will begin shooting in January and will air exclusively on Xbox One and Xbox 360 next year. It will be...

Xbox, which has greenlighted its first scripted series, Halo, and its first reality series with the street soccer competition Every Street United, is now entering the documentary arena with a multi-film series about the start of the digital revolution. It hails from Oscar-winning documentary producer Simon Chinn (Man On Wire, Searching For Sugar Man), his Emmy-winning cousin Jonathan Chinn (American High) and their newly launched Lightbox, a company focused on creating non-fiction TV programming. “Our careers have taken different paths, but we have always had a strongly shared sensibility and approach to non-fiction – mine at the more commercial end of feature documentary, Jonathan’s at the more thoughtful end of reality,” said Simon Chinn. Each film in the xBox documentary series will be helmed by a different director and will range from an hour to feature length. Zak Penn (X-Men 2) has signed on to direct the first film, which investigates...

Oscar-winning producer Simon Chinn (“Man on Wire,” “Searching for Sugarman”) has teamed with his Emmy-winning cousin Jonathan Chinn (“American High”) to form Lightbox, a new company that will produce non-fiction programming. Zak Penn has signed on to direct the first installment of a film series they are making for XBox. Lightbox will be closely aligned with Simon Chinn’s existing company, Red Box films, the producer of last year’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary, “Searching for Sugarman.” The company will be headquartered in Los Angeles and London. “Our careers have taken different paths, but we have always had a strongly shared sensibility.

After a day of giving thanks, eating turkey, and watching TV with the family, a common impulse is to get out of the house and go shopping. Just kidding! Instead of braving the Black Friday brawls, sit back and relax with even more TV marathons. (That’s what Cyber Monday is for, isn’t it?) Standouts include complete(-ish) sets of favorite franchises such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, and Star Trek, as well as guilty-pleasure reality series like House Hunters International and Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.

Check out the weekend guide to binge-watching...

Reviewed as part of the 27th Leeds International Film Festival (6-21 Nov, 2013)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Dir: Javier Ruiz Caldera, 2012

A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal…sound familiar? Unlike its central band of spectres, the influences on this supernatural Spanish comedy are plain to see. Opening and closing with a prom scene, Ghost Graduation (‘Promoción fantasma’) revisits the American high-school movies of the Eighties, emerging like a cross between Ghostbusters and The Breakfast Club- with more than just a dance montage as a nod to the latter.

Our humble, hangdog hero is Modesto (Raúl Arévalo), a high school teacher plagued with the ability to see the dead. Rather than realise his gift, he instead begins to worry that he’s losing his mind. Regular visits to a psychiatrist only seem to make matters worse- not least because Modesto is distracted by his...

The new generation of digital natives are not apathetic about politics, but they see online campaigns as more effective than lobbying a politician or joining a party

Like most Americans of my generation – born in 1973 – I learned about civics from television. On Saturday mornings, our diet of cartoons was regularly interrupted for Schoolhouse Rock, three-minute animated musical lessons on science, grammar and the workings of government. I know that a bill can die in committee before coming to the House for a vote because I can still sing "I'm Just a Bill", an incurable earworm and a pretty thorough overview of America's federal legislative process. We don't teach civics this way anymore and that's probably a good thing. Today's Schoolhouse Rock would have to explain why part of Congress shut down the Us government in a tantrum over a law they didn't like, which is hard to accomplish in three stanzas,...