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So with the New Year upon us I decided that I wanted to mix things up a little bit and bring something new to the website/podcast. I thought about how the whole website started with the 365 movies in 365 days and wondered maybe something like that would be pretty cool. Then I remembered an epsiode of Community where Abed watched a load of Nic Cage movies in a whole weekend and it sent him a bit mental.

Thus the Nicolas Cage Appreciation Society was born… A tribute to the 1 time Oscar winner, 5 times Razzie nominated, method-acting icon. With a total of 103 movie credits (at the time of writing). With every one of them better than the last, this should be a pretty interesting dive into the legacy of one of the greatest actors of our time. I will be writing up reviews on the site but also listen into the...

Exclusive: Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton (Godfather of Harlem) have been cast as young Venus and Serena Williams, respectively, in the Will Smith-led Warner Bros biopic, King Richard. In addition, Emmy-nominated When They See Us star Aunjanue Ellis has also joined the film in the role of matriarch Brandi Williams.

Reinaldo Marcus Green is at the helm, directing from a script by Zach Baylin. It’s a true story of the hardscrabble but iron-willed father of Venus and Serena Williams who had a plan to make his daughters the greatest tennis players in the world. This is how he pulled it off.

The Williams sisters have remained dominating figures on the tennis court over the years and have collectively won a total of 30 Grand Slam singles titles and four Olympic gold medals.

The film, a Westbrook Studios and Star Thrower co-production, is being produced by Tim White,...

Kelvin Harrison Jr. is the ultimate breakout story. The 25-year-old New Orleans native is nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his wrenching performance in “Luce,” where plays an adopted teen contending with his heritage, while acclaim for his other performance as a troubled teen in Trey Shults’ fall festival sensation “Waves” further cemented 2019 as his big year.

All of that comes on the heels of a dense five-year period in which the actor was plucked from obscurity, scoring bit parts in everything from “Ender’s Game” to “12 Years a Slave” before finding his footing as a young lead in the past year. Nevertheless, he said in a recent interview that he still feels like an outsider.

The charismatic star, whose recent credits also include Epix’s “Godfather of Harlem,” has received nothing but reverence from his veteran co-stars — but the actor said his entire life has been a fish-out-water...

Francis Ford Coppola did not want to make another gangster film. He’d already made two of the most commercially successful, critically lauded organized-crime movies of all time, and though people kept saying he could have a lucrative career by simply churning out Godfather clones if he wanted to, the writer-director had no interest in repeating himself. In fact, when Coppola’s phone rang in the spring of 1983, the legendary filmmaker wasn’t sure he wanted to do anything close to a big blockbuster-style movie ever again. After gambling everything...

Danny Aiello, best known for roles in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Moonstruck and The Godfather Part II, died Thursday at the age of 86. The renowned character actor passed away in a New Jersey medical facility following an unspecified sudden illness, according to his literary agent.

Aiello got his start starring with Robert De Niro in 1973’s baseball drama Bang the Drum Slowly. He continued making a name for himself the following year when he played mobster Tony Rosato in Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather sequel. He ad-libbed the now-famous line, “Michael Corleone says hello!”

More from TVLineAmerican Gods Explains Orlando Jones Exit,...

Oscars, schmoscars. Unlike so many awards voters, I actually see the movies. And then I see them again on a DVD screener or a link. And I actually have taste. So, without further ado, here are my choices for the best and worst filmgoing experiences of 2019.

Best Actors

Antonio Banderas, “Pain & Glory”

Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”

Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”

Best Actresses

Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”

Julianne Moore, “Gloria Bell”

Mary Kay Place, “Diane”

Alfre Woodard, “Clemency”

Best Supporting Actors

Alan Alda, “Marriage Story”

Al Pacino, “The Irishman”

Brad Pitt and Bruce Dern, “Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood”

Wesley Snipes, “Dolemite Is My Name”

Archie Yates, “Jojo Rabbit”

Best Supporting Actresses

Annette Bening, “The Report”

Laura Dern, “Marriage Story”

Whoever played Kimberly Guilfoyle in “Bombshell”

Sign Up for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Worst Thriller: (tie) “Greta,” “Ma”

They were horrors all right.

Worst Movie I Walked Out Of: “Her Smell,...

Tony Sokol Oct 28, 2019

The kid who stayed in pictures dies after a long life worthy of a movie of its own. Robert Evans brought film into a new era.

Robert Evans, actor-turned-producer-turned-Paramount Pictures president, who made films like Chinatown, Marathon Man, Love Story, Rosemary's Baby, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II possible, died Saturday, October 26, according to Variety. He was 89. No cause of death was announced.

Evans' movies were not intended to be blockbusters. He didn't even care if they were commercial. He wanted his films to be original. The Godfather got made because Evans thought Hollywood presented a false depiction of the mob. He had a friend get the rights to Mario Puzo's as-yet-incomplete novel and persuaded Francis Ford Coppola to direct the film. His life was as original as any of the films he was responsible for. Evans' third wife Ali MacGraw was stolen from...

Robert Evans lived a lot of life. From producing some of the most influential Hollywood films of the 1960s and ’70s, to the many criminal entanglements he detailed in his 1994 autobiography “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” Evans’ 89 years on Earth were as epic as his storied movie career.

Evans passed away on October 26, leaving behind a mountain of glorious production credits from “Chinatown” (which earned him a Best Picture Academy Award nomination) to “Rosemary’s Baby” (as a Paramount executive), and he was undoubtedly instrumental in shaping Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather” trilogy.

As Peter Biskind wrote in “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls,” “Evans was one of the great crash-and-burn stories of the ’70s.” But that’s hardly the case for the many Hollywood luminaries whose careers he helped launch and shape, cultivating relationships with talent (such as his onetime wife Ali MacGraw and Roman Polanski) that he nurtured over the years across multiple projects.

Refresh for updates The late Robert Evans, one of Hollywood’s most important producers and studio executives of the last half century, who shepherded to the screen such cinematic treasures of the 1960s and ’70 as Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, The Godfather, and The Godfather II, among many others, was remembered today by colleagues and friends in Hollywood. Tweeted Brett Morgen, who directed the film version of Evans’ The Kid Stays In The Picture memoir, “Bob Evans produced some of the greatest films of all time, but the greatest production of all, was his life.” Dana Brunetti, producer of The Social Network, wrote, “One of the best story tellers this business ever had. He and his story was the driving force for me to pursue producing.”

Actress Ali MacGraw, married to Evans from 1969 to 1972, said in a statement, “Our Son Joshua and I will miss Bob tremendously and we are so...

Thor: Love and Thunder star Natalie Portman was recently in attendance at the 6th annual Los Angeles Dance Project Gala where she took a moment to respond to Martin Scorsese’s recent claim that the Marvel movies don’t qualify as cinema.

The legendary director’s comments managed to cause quite a stir in the McU fandom, especially after the filmmaker doubled down on his stance at a subsequent event supporting his new feature The Irishman. Already, the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Love and Thunder helmsman Taika Waititi have weighed in on Scorsese’s remarks, and now Portman has shared her thoughts with The Hollywood Reporter, arguing that “there’s room for all types of cinema” and “there’s not one way to make art.”

The Jane Foster actress went on to suggest that the McU movies provide valuable escapism for the filmgoing public:

“I think that Marvel...

In the early 1980s, Francis Ford Coppola was one of the biggest names in filmmaking. After box office and awards success with two “Godfather” films, he had also gone to hell and back making “Apocalypse Now,” betting his vineyard and personal fortune on the biggest arthouse war movie ever made, and somehow ended up winning big. He would never make another film, “Cotton Club” included, without having final cut.

And yet the story of making the original “Cotton Club” was one of the director under tremendous pressure and losing sight of his movie by making edits that compromised his original vision.

“It was a long production of a lot of warfare going on on the set, you’ve gone through a cut, a director is pretty exhausted by the time the movie is coming out,” said Coppola when he was guest on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “And very well...

Coppola, Bellocchio, Scorsese, Bong Joon-ho, García Bernal, Loach, McDormand and many others will be in Lyon to celebrate heritage cinema from 12 to 20 October. With 185 000 spectators in 2018, the Festival Lumière has set the bar very high for an event centred on heritage cinema. Considering the prestigious line-up of guests set to attend, this undeniable success should be reproduced at the 11th edition of the event, organised by Thierry Frémaux (who is also the General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival) and taking place in Lyon from 12 to 20 October. In the spotlight is Francis Ford Coppola, recipient of the 2019 Lumière award, set to deliver a masterclass on 18 October, and honoured with a screening of the Godfather trilogy during “The Night of the Godfather” as well as Apocalypse Now Final Cut closing the festival. Other illustrious guests whose filmographies will be explored and who...

William Fitzgerald, the prolific title designer who worked on such films as “The Godfather: Part II,” “The Godfather: Part II,” “Total Recall” and “Dick Tracy” has died, according to reports. He was 89.

After graduating from Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design in 1951, Fitzgerald was hired by Pacific Art & Title Studio. The Studio was responsible for creating all of the title work for the major studios at the time: 20th Century Fox, MGM and Warner Bros. The artists’ work went uncredited, but during his 17-year-tenure, Fitzgerald designed the titles for such films as “Music Man,” “My Fair Lady” and “Pillow Talk,” and television shows including “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Mr. Ed.”

Fitzgerald left Pacific Art & Title in 1968 to found his own studio, Wayne Fitzgerald FilmDesign. There, he worked on some of cinema’s greatest films, including both “Godfather” sequels, “The Deer Hunter,” “Chinatown,” “Tootsie,” “Footloose,” “Total Recall,” “Dick Tracy” and “Scent of a Woman.

Francis Ford Coppola is one of the best directors the world has ever seen. Not only is he the man behind the beloved ‘Godfather’ franchise, as well as countless other iconic films, but Coppola also directed what some may argue is one of the best war films in existence, “Apocalypse Now.” However, even though the story might seem to paint another picture, showing the brutality and insanity of war, the filmmaker doesn’t think that anyone can honestly say that “Apocalypse Now” is an “anti-war film.”

Speaking to The Guardian, Coppola laid out his explanation for why “Apocalypse Now” might not be pro-war but is far from being a true anti-war film, either.

Continue reading Francis Ford Coppola Doesn’t Believe ‘Apocalypse Now’ Is Anti-War: “An Anti-War Film Cannot Glorify War” at The Playlist.

France’s Lumière Festival, which celebrates heritage cinema and auteur filmmakers, is to recognize Francis Ford Coppola with its honorary Lumiere Award. This year’s festival will also screen Coppola’s Godfather trilogy.

As we revealed earlier this year, Coppola is in development on feature Megalopolis.

Previous recipients of the Lumiere accolade include Jane Fonda, Wong Kar-Wai, Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodovar, Ken Loach, Gérard Depardieu, Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino. The festival, launched by Cannes Film Festival artistic director Thiérry Fremaux and organized by the Insitut Lumière, will take place October 12-20 in Lyon.

The event will also host South-Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho who recently won the Palme d’Or for acclaimed feature Parasite. The film has taken off in its homeland, grossing a remarkable $50M to date. Bong will attend as a guest of honor while British auteur Ken Loach will also be in attendance at the festival to give a masterclass.

From “Mean Streets” to their upcoming “The Irishman,” Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese have one of film’s most famous (and long-running) actor/director partnerships.

The two talked about their decades of work together at the Tribeca Film Festival (which De Niro co-founded) on Sunday afternoon, touching on the dynamics of their partnership, Scorsese’s hesitance to take on certain projects and even another frequent collaborator: Leonardo DiCaprio, who happened to be in the audience for the chat at the Beacon Theater.

See highlights from the two’s wide-ranging talk below.

‘Raging Bull’ Almost Didn’t Happen

Scorsese was hesitant about and “overwhelmed” by “Raging Bull,” their 1980 boxing biopic, from the start. The director explained that he didn’t “understand boxing,” and had to realize that it was really about the athlete himself, Jake Lamotta (played by De Niro), rather than the sport. But that wasn’t the only...

Alternately tidy and vast, Film Forum’s forthcoming “Trilogies” series will serve the best one-two-three punches in cinema this spring. At 78 titles, it’s something of speaks-for-itself programming, with established classics of the mainstream and arthouse, until it’s suddenly not: some are off-the-beaten-path and altogether surprising for even being a trilogy (films by John Ford and Hou Hsiao-hsien). There’s a panoply of tone, from sacred (Bergman) to profane (Pasolini) with biting wit (or Whit) in-between. At the risk of speaking for taste and saying it has something for everybody, “Trilogies” might actually have something for everybody.

Film Forum have been kind enough to offer an exclusive look with a fine trailer that, like any good repertory sneak peek, makes even the personal favorites enticing yet again. Come April 16, this will surely be the toast of the town.

Watch below:



“Trilogies” begins at Film Forum on April 19. See the full schedule here.

Film editor Barry Malkin, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for his many collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola, died Thursday. He was 80.

Malkin began his career in 1963 as an apprentice to Dede Allen on Elia Kazan’s “America America.” He was first credited as an editor for his work on “The Patty Duke Show.” Through his friendship with editor and director Aram Avakian, Malkin was introduced to Francis Ford Coppola, and was hired to edit Coppola’s 1969 film “The Rain People.”

“The Rain People” began a long collaboration between the director and editor. Malkin would work either by himself or as part of the editing team on eight additional Coppola productions. Most significantly, Malkin worked on three “Godfather” projects: “The Godfather, Part II” alongside Richard Marks and Peter Zinner in 1974; “The Godfather Saga,” which edited “The Godfather” parts one and two into a chronological TV miniseries featuring scenes not included in the theatrical releases,...

Film editor Barry Malkin, a two-time editing Oscar nominee for The Godfather: Part III and The Cotton Club, has died. He was 80.

Malkin worked on more than 30 films in his lifetime and was a longtime collaborator with Godfather trilogy director Francis Ford Coppola, who he teamed with on 11 feature films.

Malkin began his career as an apprentice to Dede Allen on the 1962 film America America, directed by Elia Kazan. There he met editor Aram Avakian, and went on to become his assistant editor on 1964’s Lilith. His first full credits as an editor came on TV’s The Patty Duke Show.

The Coppola connection came through Avakian, and the director hired Malkin to edit his The Rain People (1969).

It was the start of a long association, and Malkin earned a BAFTA nomination for best film editing for The Godfather: Part II.

Malkin also had editing credits on such films as...

Film editor Barry Malkin, who was nominated for two Oscars for Francis Ford Coppola films “The Godfather: Part III” and “The Cotton Club,” died Thursday. He was 80.

Malkin’s career in film editing last more than 40 years, and he is credited for working on more than 30 films in his lifetime. Most notably, he teamed up with Coppola on 11 of his feature films.

He first worked as an apprentice to Dede Allen, one of the pioneers of auteur film editing on Elia Kazan’s “America America” in 1963. He grew up in the same Queens neighborhood as Coppola, a fact the two realized when Malkin worked with the famed director on “The Rain People” in 1969. He came on board the “Godfather” saga with “Part II” in 1974, then went on to edit “Part III” and “The Godfather Trilogy,” a TV miniseries that combined the three films. He also served as film editor on Coppola’s “Rumble Fish,...

After Disney’s underwhelming and button-down session at CinemaCon yesterday, Paramount livened the mood up in a big way with a hysterical opening reel of studio Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos contending with a ditzy chauffeur (Hayley Magnus of the movie The Dressmaker and NBC pilot Like Magic) as he tries to make his way across Las Vegas to CinemaCon.

But that wasn’t all, like Warners, Paramount brought out the stars for its Terminator: The Dark Fate, Rocketman, Sonic the Hedgehog and Dora the Explorer sessions.

It’s ‘a sequel’ reel to what Par showed at last year’s CinemaCon, where he dealt with an inept airline ticket counter receptionist at the Burbank airport. Now, as it turns out she is his driver and she takes him to all the wrong Cons in Vegas, i.e. CinemaKhan, a Star Trek convention where Patrick Stewart pops up, and a Godfather convention.

Exclusive: On the eve of his 80th birthday, Francis Ford Coppola is ready to embark on one of his dream projects. He plans to direct Megalopolis[/link], a sprawling film as ambitious as Apocalypse Now, that he has been plotting for many years. Coppola revealed this to me today. He has his script, and he has begun speaking informally to potential stars. I’ve heard Jude Law’s name among those who might potentially be in the movie. I have much to report about Coppola’s dream project, and I got to view some of the second unit footage he shot after announcing the project in Cannes, before the terror attacks of 9/11 — the film is set in New York and is an architect’s attempt to create a utopia in the city, combated by the mayor — ground progress on the film to a halt.

“So yes, I plan this year to...

Donald Trump was the name that would not be spoken at the 2019 Oscars. But, with much recognition given to immigrants, and shout-outs to Mexico throughout the night, and all the cautionary warnings about the rise of white supremacy and antisemitism, a strongly implied rebuke of the President of the United States hung heavy in the broadcast.

Maya Rudolph kicked things off noting of this year’s awards ceremony, “There is no host, there won’t be a Popular Movie category – and Mexico is not paying for the wall.”

Introducing a clip of Roma, chef/outspoken Trump critic Jose Andres described it as a “this beautiful intimate film, one that gives voice to the voiceless, reminds us of understanding and compassion we all owe to the invisible people in our lives, immigrants and women, who move humanity forward.”

Javier Bardem, a presenter in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, said pointedly,...

SandalwoodDirected by Sandeep Janardan, the film has Rohith Bhanuprakash, Divya Uruduga and Purvi Joshi playing the lead roles.Digital NativeThe Kannada thriller Face 2 Face is scheduled for release on March 15. It has Rohith Bhanuprakash, Divya Uruduga and Purvi Joshi playing the lead roles. Reports say that this thriller is about the indifference of today’s youngsters towards infidelity. The implications of this are dealt with in Face 2 Face. Wielding the megaphone for this film is Sandeep Janardan while Bk Sumithra has bankrolled the project under the banner Sri Banashankari Creations. After working as the assistant director in films such as Super, Godfather, Uppi 2 and Topi Wala, Sandeep is now turning an independent feature film director. The film marks Sandeep’s debut directorial effort. The band Ek Khwaab has composed the music for this venture. The other technical crew of this film include Sri Crazy Mindz for editing and Vishwajith Rao for cinematography.

The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here...the final round for our Best Picture Tournament has begun! After two weeks of voting, and somehow narrowing down the last 50 years of Academy Award winners for Best Picture, we now have the top two films for you to vote on. Week after week, these two movies beat out top competitors until there were only two remaining. Last week, Titanic battled it out against The Silence of the Lambs and won to earn them a spot in this round. The Godfather on the other hand had to take on Forrest Gump, and like Forrest's (Tom Hanks) mamma always said, life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get! Now, we have the ultimate face-off...

As the new year begins, Netflix is saying goodbye to a number of movies and TV shows.

While Friends fans were thrilled to learn that the sitcom would remain on the streaming service into the new year, other titles were not so lucky.

Movies leaving the platform during January include Finding Neverland, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Meet the Fockers, Love Actually, the Godfather trilogy and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is the only television series departing from the streaming service during the month, with seasons 15 through 17 leaving on Jan. 1.

While many titles are ...

As the new year begins, Netflix is saying goodbye to a number of movies and TV shows.

While Friends fans were thrilled to learn that the sitcom would remain on the streaming service into the new year, other titles were not so lucky.

Movies leaving the platform during January include Finding Neverland, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Meet the Fockers, Love Actually, the Godfather trilogy and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is the only television series departing from the streaming service during the month, with seasons 15 through 17 leaving on Jan. 1.

While many titles are ...

Projects include comic book adaptation Dampyr and feature comedy A Son Called Eramus

Italian distributor Eagle Pictures has unveiled details of its new film and TV production arm which will be run by the company’s Roberto Proia and Maria Grazia Vairo.

Proia will spearhead the development of projects originated by Eagle and Vairo will manage international co-productions in which Eagle is a minority partner. Both Proia and Vairo will retain their existing roles at Eagle as head of theatrical distribtion and head of feature acquisitions respectively.

Eagle, whose biggest releases this year are Midnight Sun and The Commuter, has...

The commercial and critical success of his “BlacKkKlansman” has given Spike Lee his first legit awards contender in years. And with four Golden Globe nominations this week, including nods for Best Director and Best Picture, it’s not an opportunity he’s taking for granted. In the midst of his always-busy schedule, Lee has made time to introduce the film at screenings, do interviews, and meet Academy voters.

“I’m doing the thing, meeting the voters and kissing babies,” said Lee when he was a guest on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “This is what everybody has told me, this is what you have to do.”

While Lee, who has never received a Best Director nomination from the Academy or the DGA, said it’s natural for anyone to want to be recognized for their work, he is more focused on making sure his long-time collaborators like composer Terence Blanchard...

Move over, "Mob Wives" ... there's a new show getting ready to mark its territory on VH1 with ties to drug cartels. Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... VH1 is done casting for its non-scripted show that will feature people whose family is closely associated with the drug trade. We're told one person who made the cut is Michael Corleone Blanco -- the son of the notorious gangster, Griselda Blanco -- aka "The Godmother of Cocaine.

After Wednesday’s double header of “Survivor: David vs. Goliath” that resulted in the eliminations of one Goliath, Alec Merlino, and one David, Carl Boudreaux, the game remains at an even 4-4 split between the two battling original alliances. With only eight remaining in the hunt for the million dollar prize, we’re breaking this week’s power rankings down into two groups — the four players that Can win and the four players that Won’T win.

Below are my picks for the only four players I can picture making it to the final tribal council and winning, with a brief assessment as to why. Among them are two Davids, Christian Hubicki and Nick Wilson, who have together shared the top spots on my power rankings all season-long and two Goliaths, Kara Kay and Alison Raybould, who have remained under the radar until now as they being to make cunning moves together.

“That’s a good nickname to have,” Carl Boudreaux tells Gold Derby about being dubbed the “Godfather” by his fellow “Survivor: David vs. Goliath” tribe mates. “Not very many people can be labeled as the ‘Godfather,’ you know? Who wouldn’t want that to be their nickname?” Carl reveals that he had no idea they were all calling him by that moniker and that he only found out by “watching the episode” in which he was eliminated. Listen to our exit interview above.

See‘Survivor’: Top 20 sexiest females ever, ranked — Did your faves make our list?

Carl will go down in “Survivor” history as being the first person to find and properly play an idol nullifier, something he takes great pride in. “It was definitely not the easiest advantage to have,” he states. “Out of all of the advantages that’s ever been in the game of ‘Survivor,’ in...

Despite having so much power in “Survivor: David vs. Goliath” that the other castaways all called him the Godfather, Carl Boudreaux was eliminated at the end of the two-hour episode on Wednesday, November 28. The vote was razor thin between Carl, who received five votes, and Alison Raybould, who earned four. But thanks to the new five-person alliance of Alison, Christian Hubicki, Gabby Pascuzzi, Kara Kay and Mike White, Carl was sent to the jury house. Watch the latest “Survivor” Ponderosa video above.

See‘Survivor’ Ponderosa video: 4th jury member on being voted out unanimously after ‘fighting for my life’ as a Goliath [Watch]

“For me I never got too cocky,” Carl swore on his way to meet up with Elizabeth Olson, John Hennigan, Dan Rengering and Alec Merlino. “Every time I came to tribal I made sure I brought everything with me because I knew in this game anything can happen.

Tony Gilroy to direct series The Book Of Guns.

Atlantic Nomad, the new TV and film production operation led by Simon Mirren, David Wolstencroft and Jamie Carmichael, has signed a first-look deal with Us television production and distribution company Platform One Media.

The first series under the deal will be The Book Of Guns, with an original script by Tony Gilroy, best known as co-writer of most of the Jason Bourne films and director of 2012’s The Bourne Legacy. Mirren, best known for writing and producing such series as Criminal Minds and Without A Trace, will serve as executive producer...

After more than 20 years, Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower have reportedly gone their separate ways.  The news broke late Tuesday when Page Six, citing sources, reported the Oscar winner is no longer living with his wife of more than two decades and they are expected to "potentially" announce their breakup soon. The news begs the question of what is at stake in this reported high-profile split. While it's unclear if the two had a prenuptial agreement, the 75-year-old Raging Bull and Godfather star's net worth was estimated at $200 million back in 2015, according to Forbes.  In addition to an iconic acting career spanning more than 50 years, the...

It’s no secret that James Cameron wants to go virtual underwater for “Avatar 2” and “Avatar 3,” which he’s currently directing together (principal photography has wrapped). That not only entails Weta Digital conquering underwater performance capture but also the cast members (including Kate Winslet as free-diver Ronal of the Metkayina tribe) learning how to hold their breath.

IndieWire got a tech and storytelling update from Lightstorm producer Jon Landau during a recent set visit for “Alita: Battle Angel” at Weta in Wellington, New Zealand. “When you’re doing performance capture in a tank, you can’t be in scuba gear because the bubbles will distract,” he said. “Not only that but we can’t record what the mouth would be doing. So we had to teach everybody how to free breath hold.”

Read More: The ‘Avatar’ Sequels Sound Terrible, But You’d Be Insane to Bet Against James...

ProfileAishwarya shot to fame with her performance as a slumdweller and mother of two young kids in the critically acclaimed ‘Kaaka Muttai’.CV AravindShe first attracted attention in the inane slapstick comedy show Asathapovadu Yaru on Sun TV but it was her dancing abilities showcased in the reality show Maanada Mayilada, which she won, that brought her film offers. Some of her earlier films, like Avargalum Ivargalum, Rummy and Pannaiyaarum Padminiyum, were washouts at the box office. It was the Manikandan directed Kaaka Muttai that did the star turn for the young actor Aishwarya Rajesh, whose performance as a slumdweller and mother of two young kids was widely appreciated. Not many actors eyeing a foothold in cinema would have jumped at the opportunity to play a young mother at such an early stage in their career. The role, entirely shorn of glamour, had a lot of potential. Shot almost entirely in the slums of Chennai,...

Another week, another shock cancellation of a Marvel show from the folks at Netflix.

Following the news that Iron Fist would be ending after two seasons, it was revealed yesterday that Luke Cage‘s sophomore run would likewise be its last. And if you thought Marvel fans took it pretty badly that the altogether unpopular Iron Fist was axed, you can imagine that they were full of despair when they heard that Luke Cage had also gotten the chop.

Luke Cage and Iron Fist are both cancelled which means no Misty Knight and Iron Fist team up pic.twitter.com/NCOf0rNHu4

— zoë (@ifmnlghtcudtalk) October 20, 2018

I guess Luke Cage isn’t bulletproof from cancellation.

— Dan Marcus (@Danimalish) October 20, 2018

Some tried to hope that this ending would lead to a new beginning – mainly that Heroes for Hire team-up show between Luke and Danny Rand that we’ve been wanting for years.

Morgana King, who is best known for playing Marlon Brando’s wife in Godfather I & II, died March 22 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She was 87.

According to the Washington Post, her death was not previously reported. The Riverside County coroner’s office confirmed her death.

Born Maria Grazia Messina on June 4, 1930, in Pleasantville, NY, she grew up with five siblings in New York City. Her parents were from Italy. She was recognized for her singing talents at a young age and continued to hone her skills which led to a scholarship at the Metropolitan School of Music.

For more than 50 years, King was a jazz singer who performed in clubs and recorded nearly 20 albums. Her talent was admired by such greats as Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington and opera star Eileen Farrell. In 1964, she received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist.

She performed on The Andy Williams Show...

Morgana King, the acclaimed jazz stylist who released dozens of albums but is perhaps best known for portraying the wife of Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone in the first two Godfather films, has died. She was 87.

King died March 22 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Palm Springs, a representative from the Riverside County coroner’s office told The Washington Post. Her death had gone unreported until a friend, John Hoglund, wrote about her this week on Facebook.

King had a music breakthrough in 1964 with her operatic version of "A Taste of Honey," originally composed by Bobby Scott and ...

Morgana King, the acclaimed jazz stylist who released dozens of albums but is perhaps best known for portraying the wife of Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone in the first two Godfather films, has died. She was 87.

King died March 22 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Palm Springs, a representative from the Riverside County coroner’s office told The Washington Post. Her death had gone unreported until a friend, John Hoglund, wrote about her this week on Facebook.

King had a music breakthrough in 1964 with her operatic version of "A Taste of Honey," originally composed by Bobby Scott and ...

[Editor’s note: The following interview contains spoilers for “Marvel’s Luke Cage” Season 2.]

“Luke Cage” showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker isn’t at all shy when it comes to acknowledging his influences, grinning as he described a jar in his writers’ room that demands a dollar anytime someone makes a reference to “The Wire” or “The Godfather.”

“I come to the room with cash,” Coker laughed.

And that’s clear when you watch the final minutes of “Luke Cage” Season 2, when Luke (Mike Colter) accepts the mantle of leadership from Mariah (Alfre Woodard) over Harlem’s Paradise, and Misty finds herself shut out of the inner sanctum just like Kay Corleone.

“When we were filming that moment, where the door closes on Misty,” Coker said, “I literally had my iPad open to say, ‘okay I want to pause, so that we’re going to match the shot on Kay in reverse.’ We put it in there.”

Coker credited his uncle, Richard Wesley.

“It’s great fun,...

Director Ryan Coogler, on a visit to the Cannes Film Festival, admitted Thursday that as he developed his blockbuster hit Black Panther, some of the many films he turned to for inspiration were the Godfather movies, because he'd decided that "the best way to look at Black Panther was like a crime movie." He also thought the heroic T'Challa's acceptance of his role as head of his royal family was akin to Michael Corleone's acceptance of his own fate.

Other films that fed his imagination as he and his collaborators, who included cinematographer Rachel Morrison, readied Black Panther included Abderrahmane...

After a very revealing Vulture interview with Quincy Jones — in which Jones alleged, among other revelations, that Marlon Brando slept with Richard Pryor — the comedian's widow confirmed the news Wednesday (Feb. 7).

Jennifer Lee Pryor told TMZ: "Richard would have no shame about Quincy's comments." She also revealed that Pryor was open about his bisexuality, which he detailed in diaries that she hopes to publish later in the year.

In the Vulture interview, Jones recalled spending time with the Godfather star. "Brando used to go cha-cha dancing with us," he said. "He could dance his ass off. He was...

Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) joined an elite group of filmmakers who received Oscar nominations for writing, directing and producing the same film. In the academy’s 90-year history, only 26 other people pulled off this hat trick. Peele is the first black filmmaker to do so, while del Toro is only the second Latin American after his filmmaking amigo Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

Now del Toro and Peele are hoping to join the even more exclusive club of seven filmmakers who won all three prizes in one night. Considering they’re in direct competition with each other for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay (where del Toro competes alongside co-writer Vanessa Taylor), it’ll be an especially tricky feat to pull off.

Leo McCarey was the first person to win the big three for “Going My Way” (1944), a lighthearted comedy starring Bing...

Marisol Nichols loves the darker, criminal side of Hermione Lodge during Riverdale Season 2.

She's embraced Riverdale's devious mob wife/accomplice for what she's done and what she plans to do. She likes exploring this "Godfather" feel to her character's storyline. And, based on what we've seen of Hermione so far, and our chat with Marisol, Hermione might be more involved than meets the eye.

We got the chance to chat with Marisol about her character and all things Riverdale, as well as her acting career. Though, keep your eyes on Riverdale Season 2 Episode 13, Riverdale fans: Marisol teases it's going to be a Huge episode for Hermione.

Enjoy the interview below!

What drew you to the character of Hermione Lodge?

So, in the beginning, Hermione was written as this very well-to-do woman out of New York, and she was basically broken when she came to Riverdale.

I liked the idea...

The newly-released first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story re-introduced us to three iconic characters from the original trilogy. Chewbacca, Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian and, of course, Alden Ehrenreich’s new take on Han Solo. But what other familiar faces might turn up? Could Han’s old enemy Jabba the Hutt put in an appearance, perhaps? We can’t say for sure just yet, but evidence is beginning to mount that points to it happening.

Just this weekend a photo of a toy set suggested as much and now, hidden within the frenetic teaser is a shot featuring a villainous goon involved in a blaster battle. As noted by Reddit user Regimas, he’s dressed very similar to the guards at Jabba’s palace, as featured in Return of the Jedi.

Take a look for yourself in the comparison below:

More Evidence Suggests Jabba The Hutt Will Appear...

You’ve heard of warmongers and, no thanks to the Internet, rumormongers, but what about Killmongers?

Erik Killmonger, otherwise known as the Golden Jaguar, is the chief antagonist of Marvel’s Black Panther – a warped, power-hungry baddie who threatens to rain on T’Challa’s parade.

All of this comes just as Wakanda braces for “political unrest” following T’Chaka’s death, and it’s up to Chadwick Boseman’s titular hero to prove himself worthy of the throne. And that’s where Black Panther really begins.

With only three weeks to go until the film’s release here in the States, Marvel producer Nate Moore recently spoke more about Erik Killmonger and, essentially, the motivations fueling his open rebellion.

The interesting comparison we’ve been making, and this is going to sound crazy, but we’ve always thought of the Black Panther as a James Bond kind of movie,...

New Year’s resolutions are a time to work towards a transformation of your body and/or your life. To honor these goals, this month we’re going to look at transformative roles in film. This week we look at some prominent examples of actors played characters that are much older than the actors’ actual age.

It’s one thing to mentally prepare to play a character in a movie or a play. It’s another thing to physically transform yourself in order to better identify with the role. Some transformations are only skin deep; extensive makeup or prosthetics may be sufficient to pull of the necessary look. Other transformations are more involved; many actors may take part in weeks, if not months, of preparations for a role. This can include intense training, specialized diets, and exhaustive exercise routines. The end result of an actor going through such a transformation...

Meryl Streep and Don Gummer have one of the most inspiring marriages in Hollywood, and the story of how they met is no different. Their meeting in 1978 was actually a result of a tragic event in Meryl's life - her partner, Godfather actor John Cazale, had just died of bone cancer. Don, who is a sculptor, was a friend of Meryl's brother, Harry, and arrived in NYC with him to help her move out of the loft she shared with John. Although sparks didn't initially fly between them, Don invited her to move into his vacant apartment while he traveled and they corresponded through letters. Related37 Celebrity Couples Who Have Stood the Test of Time Meryl stayed in the apartment with Don even after he returned and began filming for Kramer vs. Kramer, the very role that led to her first Oscar. A romance blossomed between them, and they tied...