One of the best performances in "12 Years a Slave," the heavy period drama following a free northern Black man as he's kidnapped and sold into slavery, was Paul Dano as Jonathan Tibeats. A sadistic plantation overseer, Tibeats would regularly beat the slaves he was in charge of f … | Continue reading
At the very beginning, "The Stars at Noon" has an intriguing concept — is it love, or just survival? Margaret Qualley stars as Trish, an American woman trapped in Nicaragua who is forced to question her own motives when a wealthy Englishman appears to offer her a lifeline. The op … | Continue reading
Who decides what it is to be American? It's this question that Justin Chon poses with the blistering "Blue Bayou," his third independent feature. Chon was probably once best known as the quirky Asian friend in films like "Twilight" or "21 & Over," but he's since carved a new nich … | Continue reading
After playing the role across three films in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, Adam Driver became intensely dedicated to Kylo Ren and fiercely protective of his portrayal. Let's be honest, lots of people attached themselves to the scowling, dark-side seduced Jedi and took his every … | Continue reading
Are video game adaptations The Next Big Thing in Hollywood? The jury's still out from a quality point of view, at least based on recent efforts, but studios definitely aren't going to let this potential moneymaking machine slip through their fingers without a fight! That's the im … | Continue reading
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.) The Movie: "Groundhog Day" Where You Can Stream It: Paramount+ The Pitch: What would you do if you had nothing but … | Continue reading
Guillermo del Toro is a critically beloved filmmaker known for his sharply detail-ridden directing style that speaks with a visual language of its own. The Mexican director gained prominence with his Spanish-language dark fantasy dramas like "Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Devil's Bac … | Continue reading
Big-budget science fiction is a pretty new development. Our original blockbusters, "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Star Wars: A New Hope," only had budgets of around $10 million. In comparison, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" got to work with roughly $300 million. With the larger bu … | Continue reading
The 1960s and 1970s were lean years for Hollywood. The Paramount Decree had major studios in shambles, forcing them to divest their interests in movie theaters, ending the vertical integration that led to the prosperous Classical Hollywood era. The arrival of television began eat … | Continue reading
When body horror maestro David Cronenberg announced he would be adapting William Burroughs' "Naked Lunch" into a feature film, skeptics doubted whether or not the surrealist stylization of the groundbreaking novel would translate onscreen. Cronenberg grappled with many similar th … | Continue reading
It doesn't take more than a brief glance at the "Fast & Furious" films to see how much testosterone is packed into every frame. Fast cars, giant explosions, bulging muscles, scantily-clad women -- the franchise is saturated with so much "dudes rock" energy that it can barely be c … | Continue reading
Rowan Atkinson is back in another slapstick comedy, "Man vs. Bee." The trailer for the Netflix comedy series confirms that the title for the show is quite literal, as it is exclusively about a man named Trevor (Atkinson) battling it out with a bee, who seems hell-bent on disrupti … | Continue reading
The scope of the "Resident Evil" franchise can best be summed up in one word: sprawling. Through 10 main games, three game remakes, at least 14 spin-off games, four animated films, six live-action movies, one live-action reboot, and a brand-new live-action streaming series on the … | Continue reading
It is fitting that maximalist filmmaker Baz Luhrman is making his return to theaters after almost a decade with a movie about one of the most maximalist performers in American history. "Elvis" recounts the rise and fall of the King of Rock and Roll not as just another biopic that … | Continue reading
Once upon a time, Netflix was a haven for ambitious animated projects that couldn't find a home, picking up stop-motion movies by the likes of Guillermo del Toro and Henry Selick that had long struggled to secure funding. It even stepped in to save the animated movie version of N … | Continue reading
No matter how many years pass, it all seems to come back to Darth Vader. Almost exactly 45 years (!) since making that legendary first appearance aboard the Tantive IV in the original "Star Wars," the biggest bad of them all has maintained an iron grip on our collective psyche th … | Continue reading
We're getting closer to the latest movie version of "The Munsters" from Rob Zombie, and it's time to take a look back at the old TV series that ran from 1964 to 1966 with 70 episodes. The cast included Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster, Al Lewis as Gr … | Continue reading
There's a scene early on in HBO Max's eerie, humane mini-series "The Staircase" where Todd Peterson (Patrick Schwarzenegger) returns home. Police cars are everywhere. The scene is grim and focused. Director Antonio Campos' camera follows Todd into his family home, weaving in and … | Continue reading
They say a hero is only as good as their villain, and few comic book Big Bads have been portrayed with the same level of complexity as Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor in "Smallville." The Superman prequel series ran for 10 seasons, beginning in 2006 on The WB and wrapping up on Th … | Continue reading
Mother-child relationships are rarely without complications. Even in the most blissful and tender of those connections, there will always be mysteries, secrets, and things left unsaid. Children come into this world without knowledge — a concept that has to be given as well as lea … | Continue reading
When actors or directors become big household names, we like to think they have the ability to get whatever movie they have in their heads put on screen. Occasionally that happens, but it is a rarity. Most cinema artists have to scrape and claw and beg to get their movies made, s … | Continue reading
Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh is a comfort character for many. For much of his 98-year history, the A.A. Milne and E. H. Shepard creation was known as a cuddly bear with a love for "hunny," known for his kindhearted thoughtfulness. But as the Winnie-the-Pooh universe enters the public … | Continue reading
Vicky Jenson's and Andrew Adamson's 2001 film "Shrek," loosely based on a twisted children's book by William Steig, was released as a direct criticism of the fairy tale tropes and clichés popularized by Disney-produced animated films like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Cinde … | Continue reading
The body isn't just a vessel for the soul; it's a vessel for performance, for experimentation, for breathing life into something new. We are vehicles for evolution by default, and thus it stands to reason that some time in the future, we may bear witness to ourselves evolving in … | Continue reading
The ethos of the horror genre has a lot to do with constant elevation. It's always trying to one-up itself, coming up with scares, twists, and kills that will leave audiences more shocked than they've ever been before. It's a tiring effort, but when the genre succeeds at crafting … | Continue reading
You've seen the Belchers flip burgers, act weird, and break out into full-on musical numbers, and soon you'll get to see them do all of that, but on the big screen in "The Bob's Burgers Movie." The 2D adult animated show from creator Loren Bouchard brings one of television's most … | Continue reading
If someone were to describe "The Devil Wears Prada" to you before the book was written or the movie was released, do you think you could see it as an ongoing cultural touchstone? The movie basically boils down to cute fashion montages, a mean boss, and a whatever boyfriend, but i … | Continue reading
Natalie Portman needs no introduction. She is an incredible actress, and she has several accolades to affirm her talent and various academic achievements. Plus, Portman has starred in two of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world. When the actor joined the Marvel Cinem … | Continue reading
This post contains minor spoilers for episode 4 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." The Latin phrase "memento mori," often seen on tombstones, is intended as a grave, humbling reminder. The translation is simply "remember that you will die." The fourth episode of "Star Trek: Stra … | Continue reading
(The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fan-made productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.) In … | Continue reading
This episode contains minor spoilers ahead for episode 4 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." Canon is a funny thing in the world of "Star Trek." The franchise, which has churned out 12 criss-crossing series (and just as many movies) in its 56-year history, has to tread carefully … | Continue reading
Variety is reporting that Lifetime is pushing the release of "The Bad Seed Returns" in the wake of the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, TX that has claimed the lives of 19 children and 2 adults. "The Bad Seed" originated as a novel that was then adapted as a stage play and su … | Continue reading
Two years ago, cinematographer Rachel Morrison began shooting her directorial debut, "Flint Strong" — a boxing drama starring Ryan Destiny, Oluniké Adeliye, and Ice Cube — for Universal Pictures. Two days into principal photography, the pandemic forced the project to shut down. W … | Continue reading
The console wars have deeply divided gamers for as long as I've been around, and I've been around a long, long time. In recent years, Nintendo has been happy to be off on their own little island, doing what they do best and fostering their own IP while Sony and Microsoft duke it … | Continue reading
If you're into animation, you've probably seen "The Triplets of Belleville," and if you're into the "Belleville," Sony Pictures Classic has both your back and your wallet. The production and distribution company has officially secured the rights to the "Belleville" writer and dir … | Continue reading
The Disney+ series "Loki" gave us a whole lot of Tom Hiddleston (thank you) through a story about his character's redemption (well, one version of him, least). We watched him fall in love with himself in the form of Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) -- hey, this is Loki we're talking ab … | Continue reading
As you may have heard, Austin Butler, the star of the upcoming Baz Luhrmann film "Elvis," has been cast as Feyd-Rautha in Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Two." According to The New York Times (via ScreenRant), Butler has begun knife training for the role of Feyd-Rautha, a role whi … | Continue reading
Much has changed in the movie business since the original "Top Gun" hit theaters in the summer of 1986. The special effects industry has taken gigantic leaps forward and, largely through the use of computer-generated visual effects, just about anything is possible. But when Tom C … | Continue reading
The "Fast & Furious" movies pride themselves on their absurdity, and 2017's "The Fate of the Furious" is no different. It's a film where, among other things, Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto wins a race by driving a car backwards while it's on fire, the villain Cipher (Charlize Thero … | Continue reading
London's most eligible bachelor is a man named Mr. Malcolm (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) who has yet to settle down because he's got a list of requirements for his bride-to-be, and as it stands, no woman has been able to check off all of his boxes. After Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton) is reje … | Continue reading
(Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through … | Continue reading
Every movie fan has a story about coming of age at just the right time for a smash-hit, pop culture-defining movie to sweep them away and light their imaginations on fire. Now, imagine that one of those fans grows up to become an actor in their own right -- a wildly successful on … | Continue reading
Forty-five years ago today, George Lucas' "Star Wars" (or, as it's now known, "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope") debuted in a smattering of theaters scattered throughout the United States. Prior to release, no one outside of Hollywood had any idea it would enrapture moviegoers … | Continue reading
The upcoming Paramount+ television show "Last King of the Cross" has added a new member of its ensemble, although the circumstances surrounding this addition could be better. Tim Roth has boarded the series, which is based on accused crime ringleader John Ibrahim's autobiography … | Continue reading
With a rollercoaster of a production process thanks to an ongoing global pandemic and its star suffering a devastating shoulder injury, the fifth "Indiana Jones" movie is currently in post-production and well on its way to hitting its June 2023 target for a theatrical release. Wi … | Continue reading
In many ways, "Swiss Army Man" is a very physical movie. Not only is it largely concerned with themes of bodies in terms of what functions they serve and what abilities they have, but it also explores what bodies mean, positing that a person's spiritual and physical selves are be … | Continue reading
May 22, 2022 was the last day The Landmark theater -- located on the corner of Westwood and Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA -- was open for business. The 12-screen theater opened in 2007 as an adjunct of the then-still-open Westside Pavilion, an indoor shopping mall that had itself … | Continue reading
In the new chapter of the "Jurassic World" franchise, dinosaurs have expanded beyond the water's edge of Isla Nublar and are now all over the world. Humans and dinosaurs are going to have to find a way to co-exist. Though "Jurassic World Dominion" is the final film in the second … | Continue reading