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With the prevalence of streaming services and online content, it has become increasingly rare to start the weekend with fun — yet, surprisingly educational — cartoons. One underrated Saturday-morning cartoon from the 1990s is still a great show to watch with the whole family.

The Magic School Bus premiered in 1994. In each episode of the series, eccentric teacher Ms. Frizzle takes her students on “field trips” to places like outer space, the Arctic, and the inside of a sick person’s body. Thirty years after its release, it maintains its quality and originality.

The Magic School Bus Blends Fantasy and Science

While the answers to many of the questions posed on the Magic School Bus could be answered without the pomp and circumstance of a Frizzle “field trip,” the adventure element of the show is part of what makes it interesting for audiences of all ages. Plus, Ms. Frizzle’s general excitement...

Oscar-winning filmmaker Ezra Edelman’s Prince project is joining a select list of documentaries with a dubious distinction – fated not to see the light of day. It happened with Lily Tomlin, the 1986 documentary directed by Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill that has rarely been exhibited publicly. And in the 1970s, the Rolling Stones sued to keep director Robert Frank from releasing his documentary C**ksucker Blues, a film that chronicled a drug-fueled Stones concert tour of the U.S.

In the case of The Book of Prince, Edelman’s docuseries on the musician, Netflix scuttled the project under pressure from Prince’s estate, which saw a cut of the series and didn’t like its portrait of the Purple Rainmaker. Edelman sharply criticized that decision in an interview that aired last week on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast.

On the new edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, hosts...

Fans of Michelle Pfeiffer will get an opportunity to celebrate wildly — let’s call that “makin’ whoopee” — when she leaves her handprints and footprints in cement at the Tcl Chinese Theatre next month.

The ceremony will take place during the April 24-27 TCM Classic Film Festival, it was announced Thursday.

One of Pfeiffer’s most unforgettable performances — that of smoldering lounge singer Susie Diamond in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), for which she received the second of her three career Oscar nominations — will be showcased at the 16th annual event as well. (Watch her in that film on the piano, and we do mean On the piano, here.)

“There’s an undeniable quality to any part played by Michelle Pfeiffer,” TCM host Ben Mankiewicz said in a statement. “She blends — seemingly effortlessly (though it surely isn’t effortless) — elegance with depth, capturing the complexity in every character she plays.

“For example,...

Sean Murray has worked with some serious talent on NCIS, but when it comes to his top three favorite guest stars, he totally swerved past the obvious picks. No Jamie Lee Curtis. No Zac Efron. Instead, he gave a shout out to actors who didn’t just crush their roles but left a lasting mark on him personally. And with NCIS running for two freaking decades, that’s saying something.

Sean Murray in NCIS | Credits: CBS

So, who made the cut? Let’s just say, his choices are as underrated as they are brilliant. Buck up, because you’re in for a surprise.

Sean Murray names his 3 favorite NCIS guest stars and they’re not who you’d expect Zac Efron in The Iron Claw (2023) | Credits: House Productions

Sean Murray’s seen countless guest stars come and go on NCIS. But when asked about his favorites, Jamie Lee Curtis and...

It's probably no accident that the Screen Actors Guild chose a feminist heroine like Jane Fonda as the 60th recipient of its Life Achievement Award. Who better than an outspoken 87-year-old activist and cultural icon to meet the divisive moment with a rousing SAG Awards speech? As SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in announcing the honor, "Jane Fonda is a trailblazer and an extraordinary talent — a dynamic force who has shaped the landscape of entertainment, advocacy, and culture with unwavering passion. We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created."

Fonda didn't disappoint on Sunday. Following a spirited introduction by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Fonda used her platform as a defiant, emotional call to arms and an opportunity to remind her audience of fellow actors that it's time to stand up amid a fraught political climate.

"A whole lot of...

Jane Fonda may be 87, but she’s not about to slow down any time soon.

The two-time Oscar winner, who received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award at the 2025 SAG Awards, said she saw the honor and the enthusiastic reception she received from the Hollywood stars in the audience, who gave her a standing ovation, as more of a “go-girl kick-ass” form of encouragement instead of something being given to someone toward the end of their life.

“Which is good because I’m not done,” Fonda said.

During her speech, Fonda looked back on her “really weird” acting career — including roles in Klute, Coming Home, Barbarella, 9 to 5, Grace and Frankie, Monster in Law, The Newsroom, 80 for Brady and Book Club and its sequel — and expressed support for the opportunities given to her onscreen.

“Acting gave me a chance to play angry women with opinions,” she said of...

In a fiery speech, Jane Fonda accepted the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 31st annual SAG Awards Sunday, first thanking SAG-AFTRA and her fellow actors amid a standing ovation and raucous cheers and applause. “This means the world to me,” she said. “Your enthusiasm makes it seem, I don’t know, less like a late twilight of my life and more like a go-girl kickass. Which is good, because I’m not done!” the 87-year-old two-time Oscar winner exclaimed.

Fonda is the 60th person to receive the Life Achievement Award, given to an actor who fosters “the finest ideals of the acting profession” as it recognizes both career and humanitarian accomplishments.

Fonda took the stage to accept the award following a presentation by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and montage of clips from her films, including her Oscar winning roles in Klute and Coming Home, as well as 9 to 5, Julia, The China Syndrome,...

Jane Fonda is addressing the Barbarella and 9 To 5 remakes that are currently in the works.

Back in 2022, it was announced that Sydney Sweeney will be starring in a retelling of Barbarella, which Jane, now 87, starred in back in 1968. Then last year, it was revealed that Jennifer Aniston and Diablo Cody are working on a remake of the 1980 movie 9 to 5, which Jane starred in alongside Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton.

In a new interview, Jane was asked about the two remakes, and she had a very blunt response.

Keep reading to find out more…Vogue‘s journalist asked Jane, “Edgar Wright recently signed on to direct a remake of Barbarella starring Sydney Sweeney, and Jennifer Aniston is developing a remake of 9 to 5 with Diablo Cody. What are your thoughts on some of your iconic films being reinterpreted?”

Jane responded, “Good luck.”

After being pressed, Jane went on to say,...

"The little woman wrote giant works of art." Greenwich Ent, has revealed the official trailer for a music biopic documentary film titled Janis Ian: Breaking Silence, made by doc filmmaker Varda Bar-Kar. This first premiered at Doc NYC last year and opens in US theaters at the end of March this spring. The life and songbook of Janis Ian mirrored the awakening of American women in the 1960s & '70s, as they found their voices and embraced their power during this time of change. In the 1960s, as a teenager, acclaimed American singer-songwriter Janis Ian used to jam with Jimi Hendrix in Greenwich Village bars and partied with Janis Joplin, who jokingly called herself "the other Janis." She later befriended Bruce Springsteen as they simultaneously recorded albums at the same studio. In the 80s, she played duets with Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson in Nashville. She lived the adventurous life of a rock star.

Since 1975 nearly a thousand hosts have graced the stage at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center for “Saturday Night Live.”

Actors, comedians, musicians and even politicians have taken the stage to make America laugh on Saturday night for 50 seasons. Twenty five of these hosts have been inducted into the “Five Timers Club.” The club was first introduced during Tom Hanks’ 1990 monologue, featuring Steve Martin, Elliott Gould and Paul Simon.

During Martin Short’s December 2024 appearance, several Five Timers Club members popped up on the show to welcome him into the club, including Emma Stone, Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig and more, to give him the ceremonial robe.

Alec Baldwin has hosted the show 17 times, the most in the series’ history, with Martin, Hanks, Buck Henry and John Goodman following close behind.

As the show celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, we have rounded up every person who has hosted the sketch show.

Robert Altman was the iconoclastic filmmaker and one of the few directors to have an adjective made out of his name. Altman’s work was not limited to films — he began his career by directing episodic television shows (winning an Emmy for directing HBO’s “Tanner ’88”), as well as mounting numerous operas and other stage productions.

But Altman’s love was truly making films. To accomplish his signature overlapping dialogue, he designed innovative sound systems on which filmmakers still rely today. His sets were always a party (some would say a bacchanal), and actors clamored to work with him. Studios, however, would regularly butt heads with Altman, who would promise them a potentially commercial genre picture, then set out to subvert the familiar genre completely. The studios would largely hate it, but his fans would eat it up. Having finally achieved success in film in his 40s, he became a middle-aged wonder boy,...

If Lorne Michaels is the father of “Saturday Night Live,” then Rosie Shuster is its criminally under-acknowledged mother. Michaels may be prolific for his ability to wrangle talent and reassure network heads, but Shuster was vital in establishing the tone of this comedy institution that turns 50 this year.

“The show was one of the first to break through and represent what was actually going on,” Rosie Shuster told TheWrap during an extensive interview ahead of the “SNL” milestone.

When Shuster is written about, it’s often through the men in her life. The daughter of the Canadian comedy legend Frank Shuster, she is credited with introducing Michaels to the world of professional comedy. The two started writing together in high school and were married from 1967 to 1980. Their professional lives were just as intertwined as their personal as they both began their careers on “The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour,” contributed...

“When I started out, I wanted to be really famous,” Janis Ian says in the trailer for her upcoming documentary. “So naive.”

In the exclusive trailer above, Varda Bar-Kar’s Janis Ian: Breaking Silence follows the singer-songwriter’s career that kicked off in 1965, when a 14-year-old from New Jersey dropped the scorching “Society’s Child.”

The track about an interracial relationship was met with deep controversy — she even received death threats — but she followed that up with her masterpiece “At Seventeen,” which she performed on the first episode of Saturday Night Live.

Exclusive: As NBC prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, it’s interesting to recall the show’s second official musical guest – singer-songwriter Janis Ian. On October 11, 1975, she riveted the audience with a performance of her smash hit “At 17,” a ballad of high school heartbreak and rejection.

The full breadth of Ian’s life and career is explored in the documentary Janis Ian: Breaking Silence directed by Varda Bar-Kar (Fandango at the Wall). Today, Greenwich Entertainment announced it has acquired U.S. rights to the film, with plans to release it theatrically on March 28.

The film, a Wild Rose Pictures production in association with Groundstorm Media and American Masters Pictures, will make its broadcast and streaming premiere as part of the PBS series American Masters later this year.

Janis Ian in 1975

“In the mid-60s, Janis Ian, a teenage singer-songwriter from New Jersey, scores a controversial...

Netflix – Red Crown Productions – Participant Media

Inspired by ComicBook’s various retrospectives, we thought we’d look back at some notable Netflix Original titles that will celebrate their tenth anniversary in 2025. By 2015, Netflix had been in the original business for only a couple of years. Still, it was slowly exploring different formats, including its first-ever distributed movies and continued investment in dramas and comedy. Here are six notable Netflix movies and series turning 10 years old this year.

As a reminder, you can find the complete list of the over 4,000 Netflix Originals available in the US (and around the world) through our library page.

Beasts of No Nation

Every film distributor had to start somewhere, and with Netflix, their first-ever released Netflix Original movie was Beasts of No Nation. Starring Idris Elba and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the harrowing movie remains one of Netflix’s best movies in its library...

The Bob Dylan song choices Timothée Chalamet picked for his “Saturday Night Live” musical appearance were… well, completely unknown to most of the viewing audience. The actor’s dip into more obscure choices delighted many Dylanologists who tuned in, even as his picks defied expectations that he would recreate songs he performed as Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” which turned out to be the furthest thing from his mind.

In his opening monolog as host, Chalamet signaled that viewers would be surprised by the choices during his musical segment. “You might not know the Bob Dylan songs I’m performing, but they’re my personal favorites,” he told the audience. “I’m so grateful ‘Saturday Night Live’ is still doing weird stuff like this 50 years in. They’re either really nice for letting me do this or incredibly mean and this is all a big prank.”

In an unbilled cameo,...

In the world of Oscars, achievements are like golden tickets — they’re rare, and the competition is as fierce as a lion’s roar. But every once in a while, an actor breaks through, marking history with a combination of talent, hard work, and, well, destiny. Timothée Chalamet, at just 29 years old, is now one of those rare gems, setting a new standard by becoming the first-ever actor to lead two ‘Best Picture’ nominations in the same year—A Complete Unknown and Dune: Part Two.

Timothée Chalamet in a still from Dune: Part Two | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

This is no ordinary feat. It’s the kind of achievement that stands out like a diamond in a sea of stones. It’s the kind of news that makes you stop scrolling, look twice, and say, “Now that’s something special”.

Timothée Chalamet joins an elite club before 30?

When Timothée Chalamet...

Actor Timothée Chalamet has joined an elite club of actors who have achieved two Oscar nominations before the age of 30. The 29-year-old Chalamet, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in 2024’s A Complete Unknown as well as 2017’s Luca Guadagino film, Call Me By Your Name, is the second actor since James Dean to be nominated twice before turning 30. Per Variety, Dean, who died at the age of 24, was nominated for two Oscars posthumously.

Film journalist and historian Mark Harris noted Chalamet’s achievement on the social media platform, Bluesky. James Dean, who died in a car crash in 1955, was nominated for Oscars in both 1956 and 1957 for his roles in East of Eden (1955) and Giant (1956). Before Dean, the late Mickey Rooney was the only other man to earn two Oscar nods in the leading actor category before the age of 30. Rooney was nominated for Babes in Arms...

In October, Timothée Chalamet showed up at his own look-alike contest in New York City’s Washington Square Park to help anoint the winner with a $50 prize. Now, he’s reteaming with some of those finalists for his latest Saturday Night Live promo.

“I’ve never done this before,” Chalamet notes in the video (watch above). “I’m having to be the SNL host and musical guest in the same week, so it’s a lot of work. And I want to focus on the songs. So I brought in some help to cover it with all the hosting duties.”

What follows is a montage of Chalamet’s look-alikes performing various duties around Studio 8H — meeting with the writers, working on the monologue, and listening to Mikey Day brag about hosting Is It Cake?

The real Chalamet tells the audience, “All things considered, it should be a great show.” But...

Jennifer Aniston’s 5 Highest-Grossing Films At The Worldwide Box Office( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Jennifer Aniston gained global fame as Rachel Green in the popular sitcom Friends. She has also been an eminent part of Hollywood who aced the comedy genre and is equally graceful in the other genres. Some of her renowned films include Bruce Almighty, We’re the Millers, and more. She was one of the highest-paid TV actors of all time, and today, we are here to rank the top five highest-grossing films of the Friends star.

Besides acting, she has also directed a few movies, including Room 10. In 2002, Aniston, along with her ex-husband Brad Pitt and the former CEO of Paramount Pictures, founded the production company Plan B Entertainment. In 2005, she and Grey withdrew from the company. Later, Jennifer and Kristin Hahn co-founded the production company Echo Films.

Jennifer Aniston has made movies worth millions, and her movies mainly were box-office successes.

Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Ariana Grande are in line to play the key three roles in the planned 9 To 5 remake.

We last heard an update on 20th Century Studios’ planned 9 To 5 remake last summer, with news that Juno writer Diablo Cody was coming on board to pen the script for the project which is set to be produced by Jennifer Aniston.

After trying to get the project up and running before, this time around Aniston looks to have found some momentum although the project isn’t officially greenlit yet, according to Life & Style (via Dark Horizons).

However, it’s the three names that are reportedly in the frame that will raise eyebrows, because if the project can secure Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Ariana Grande, that will represent a huge coup. It’ll be one of this year’s starriest ensembles, not least because Aniston is set...

Conan O'Brien's comedy resume can be stacked up against just about anyone in the entertainment industry. Now, the late-night TV legend is finally getting a long-overdue honor in recognition of his achievements.

O'Brien will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the John F, Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on March 23. Netflix will stream the event, although not live.

The award is given to individuals who have impacted society in a way similar to Mark Twain. The 19th-century American author was noted for his social commentary and witticisms.

“I am honored to be the first winner of the Mark Twain Prize recognized not for humor, but for my work as a riverboat pilot,” O'Brien said, showcasing his signature sense of humor.

"For four decades, Conan O’Brien, has brought his unique blend of the smart, silly, insightful, and hilarious into our homes,” said Deborah F. Rutter,...

Ted Danson was 34 when Cheers debuted in the fall of 1982, on the younger side for a TV star at the time. That season’s top 10 highest-rated shows included a few other thirtysomething leads in Tom Selleck on Magnum, P.I. and John Ritter in Three’s Company, but for the most part, the hits of the small screen were built around actors in their fifties (Larry Hagman on Dallas, George Peppard on The A-Team) or sixties (John Forsythe in Dynasty, Jane Wyman in Falcon Crest). By the time Cheers ended a dozen years later,...

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It’s 1977 in Detroit, Michigan, and Dolly Parton stands next to her tour bus — adorned with butterfly artwork and thick, deep-red lines — for a pre-show photo. Decades later, the portrait is now one of several rare archival images featured in the latest collection from artwork shop Sonic Editions, just in time to celebrate the iconic artist’s upcoming 79th birthday.

Now available to shop online, Sonic Editions’ new...

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

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

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

We’re just over a month away from the 50th anniversary celebration of Saturday Night Live, and in addition to the retrospective documentaries, unnecessary clothing lines and baffling children’s books, we’re also getting the first serious biography about the show’s creator: Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison.

Morrison’s research about Lorne Michaels also formed the basis for a recent profile published by The New Yorker. And while it certainly contains a lot of praise for the long-time TV producer, it also spotlights some low-key criticisms, including from one of his earliest collaborators: comedy legend Lily Tomlin.

When Michaels was still a largely unknown comedy writer, Tomlin gave the young Canadian a job. “She was probably the formative influence on me,” Michaels told Rolling Stone in 1979. “She was the first person I met who really cared about quality and getting it all right.

Don’t be too dazzled when host Timothée Chalamet double-dips as his own musical guest on Saturday Night Live later this month. Sure, it’s impressive, but not that unusual — he’ll be the 49th host to pull off the feat. But most of those hosts, from Mick Jagger to Dolly Parton to Charli Xcx, were musicians first who muddled their way through a few comedy sketches. Chalamet is one of the rare SNL hosts to attempt the reverse.

Here are five performers not known primarily for music who nonetheless rocked the house on SNL…

1 Lily Tomlin

Well, here’s a weird one. When Tomlin showed up in Season Eight for her third hosting gig, the musical guest was Black R&b singer Pervis Hawkins — a Tomlin character in full beard. The songs have been scrubbed from the Peacock episode, and there are no clips on YouTube, presumably because Tomlin performed the character in blackface.

Timothée Chalamet's upcoming return for Saturday Night Live 50 will make his best skit character in the famed show even better. All season long, Lorne Michael and NBC have come up with a fantastic slew of shows to celebrate the project's milestone. SNL 50 has featured hosts and musical guests including Martin Short, Jean Smart, Chappell Roan, and Stevie Nicks. As the season moves forward, it will continue this with a string of more impressive tandems to front the remainder of its celebratory period. Chalamet is part of that upcoming pool of hosts, which is exciting, considering his past appearances.

When he steps into Studio 8H this year, Chalamet will find himself in a familiar setting, having hosted SNL twice before. The first time he fronted the NBC weekly late-night staple was in 2020 for SNL 46, which featured Bruce Springsteen as the musical guest — his fourth time. Chalamet returned in 2023 for SNL 49 with musical guest Boygenius.

“The show must go on” is about as close to showbiz law as you can get, but that hasn’t stopped some Saturday Night Live performers from refusing to take the stage. Take Ruth Gordon, the 80-year-old host who said “No way!” to an Al Franken and Tom Davis sketch in which she’d keel over dead halfway through. Which, understandable.

Here are five other SNL cast members and guests who flat-out refused to participate in show sketches…

1 John Belushi

In the movie Saturday Night, Dan Aykroyd reluctantly acts in a sketch as a “cutie pie” getting catcalled by female construction workers. Aykroyd played the beefcake in the sketch alongside Lily Tomlin, but he wasn’t the first choice.

Writers Rosie Shuster and Anne Beatts wrote the role for Belushi, who gave the part a big thumbs-down since he was self-conscious about tiny shorts that would show off his weight.

A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic, has been a resounding success for Searchlight Pictures, and for its leading man, Timothée Chalamet. The actor is set to host Saturday Night Live, and, on top of that, he will be performing as the musical guest – the first time in 30 years a non-professional musician has taken on the dual responsibility.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the actor has been asked to do double duty on SNL’s January 25 episode. This adds him to a list of distinguished performers such as Ray Charles, Britney Spears, The Rolling Stones, and Stevie Wonder. He also joins an even more exclusive list of musical guests/hosts who are not professional musicians, such as Deion Sanders, Gary Busey, and, most recently – 30 years ago – Lily Tomlin. Though it has not been officially confirmed yet, it’s fair to assume Chalamet will be strumming out some Bob Dylan hits during...

As he finds himself in the midst of awards season, Timothée Chalamet will host Saturday Night Live in January during its ongoing 50th season and mark a significant milestone in the history of the renowned late-night sketch comedy show. The past few years have been some of the biggest yet in Chalamet's career, with the star having led the casts of the box office hits Wonka and both Dune movies. Most recently, he was seen in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination.

Now, the official Saturday Night Live X account has revealed the upcoming SNL hosts for this month, as the show returns during the final two weekends of January. While Dave Chappelle has also been announced, most notably, Chalamet is listed as both the host and the musical guest on the episode dated January 25. Check out the announcement below:

first shows of 2025! pic.

Like a rolling stone gathers no moss, Timothee Chalamet’s awards campaign for A Complete Unknown continues unabated. On Friday, NBC announced Chalamet will host the Jan. 25 edition of Saturday Night Live and serve as the night’s musical guest. The expectation is that Chalamet, who plays Bob Dylan in the new film, will perform Dylan songs on the broadcast.

Regardless of the playlist, Chalamet’s dual role on the broadcast will make some Saturday Night Live history. He’s among a select few non-professional singers or traditional musicians who have served as SNL hosts and performed as musicians on the same show, joining names like Lily Tomlin, Desi Arnaz, and Deion Sanders.

The SNL appearance is the latest high-profile stop on Chalamet’s press tour and awards campaign for A Complete Unknown. The actor has spent the last month promoting his work in James Mangold’s film – including a...

In the 50-year history of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, only 41 people have ever been invited by Lorne Michaels to serve as both host and musical guest on the same night, including icons like Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Elton John, Britney Spears and Taylor Swift. Of them, only four have been non-professional singers or musicians, the most recent example coming some 30 years ago: Lily Tomlin, on Nov. 22, 1975 and Jan. 22, 1983; Desi Arnaz, on Feb. 21, 1976; Gary Busey, on March 10, 1979; and Deion Sanders, on Feb. 18, 1995.

On Jan. 25, you will be able to add Timothée Chalamet to that list. The star of the hit new Bob Dylan drama A Complete Unknown, in which he impressively sings dozens of Dylan’s songs himself, has been invited to Studio 8H at 30 Rock to serve in that dual role. Chalamet is known to be a huge fan of rap music, but presumably he’ll limit his musical...

Filmmaker Jeff Baena, husband of Parks and Recreation and Agatha All Along star Aubrey Plaza, has died. He was 47.

Baena was found dead on Friday at a Los Angeles residence, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. The coroner officially reported suicide by hanging as the cause of death.

More from TVLineJoan Plowright, Tony Award Winner, Dead at 95R.I.P., David Lynch: Kyle MacLachlan, Steven Spielberg and More Pay Tribute to 'a Singular, Visionary Dreamer'David Lynch, Twin Peaks Creator and Acclaimed Film Director, Dead at 78

Update (Jan. 6): The following statement was released on behalf of...

Screenwriter and director Jeff Baena, known for the indie films Life After Beth (2014), Joshy (2016), The Little Hours (2017), Horse Girl (2020), and Spin Me Round (2022), has died. Deadline reports Baena, who has been married to actor and producer Aubrey Plaza since 2021, has died at age 47. Per TMZ, law enforcement officials told the news outlet that the filmmaker died by suicide.

Sources from law enforcement stated that an assistant found Baena’s body at a Los Angeles-area home at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time on Jan. 3 and he was pronounced dead at the scene. People reports that representatives for the filmmaker, who also co-wrote I Heart Huckabees (2004) with David O. Russell, did not respond immediately to the outlet’s request for comment.

Baena, after graduating from New York University Film School, moved to Los Angeles to begin his career, per Deadline. He worked as a production assistant for Robert Zemeckis on a...

Updated: Jeff Baena, the writer/director of films including “Spin Me Round” and “The Little Hours,” has died at age 47, IndieWire confirmed.

The filmmaker behind “Life After Beth,” “Joshy,” and “Horse Girl” also co-wrote “I Heart Huckabees” with David O. Russell. Reports of his death began to surface early Saturday, January 4. As per Deadline, Baena’s official cause of death according to a report by the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner was suicide.

Baena was married to actor and producer Aubrey Plaza, who starred in the zombie comedy “Life After Beth,” “The Little Hours,” and “Spin Me Round,” Baena’s final film. IndieWire reached out to Plaza’s representatives, who have no additional comment at this time.

Baena co-wrote “Horse Girl” and “Spin Me Round” with star Alison Brie, who also acted in “Joshy” and “The Little Hours.” After graduating from NYU, Baena cut his teeth in Los Angeles...

It would seem to be of vital importance that directors and actors at the very least respect each other while they're making a movie, but Hollywood history is riddled with instances where this simply didn't occur. One of the most famous disagreements nearly turned fatal when Werner Herzog threatened to shoot (with a gun) notoriously erratic star Klaus Kinski while filming "Aguirre, the Wrath of God." No guns were brandished on the set of "Hook," but Steven Spielberg famously did not enjoy his time collaborating with Julia Roberts (they haven't worked together since). And then there's David O. Russell, who's fought with and/or terrorized stars like Amy Adams, Lily Tomlin, and George Clooney; if there's any justice, O. Russell, a once-formidable talent who hasn't made a watchable movie since 2010's "The Fighter," won't be allowed back behind the camera until he learns how to behave like a decent human being.

Another year is upon us which means another round of 365 days of the same drill. We will go back to our regular day-to-day jobs and will continue what we did last year. But what can make our mood better or destress us is a good movie.

So, what does 2025 have in store for us? Well, Netflix has always got us covered.

Inception on Netflix | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

While there’s still a few days left to finish 2024 and a few more movies to watch, there’s already a lot that has been scheduled for the rest of the next year on Netflix. So, in this article, we have curated a string of 25 movie titles that have been confirmed and will be released next year.

1. Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever

Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever is a Netflix original documentary...

As the playoff hunt is heating up within the NFL, Netflix is bringing four superstars back onto the field next year for another run. 80 for Brady, the road trip comedy movie starring the legendary quartet of Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field, will be available to stream on the platform starting on January 4, bringing in more comedy to start the new year. Released in 2023, the film hails from first-time director Kyle Marvin and writing duo Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern, who took inspiration from the real story of longtime New England Patriots superfans who called themselves the "Over 80 for Brady" club and regularly gathered for games. It imagines a whirlwind trip to Super Bowl Li in 2017, full of colorful characters, friendship, and, of course, Tom Brady.

For nearly a decade — since comedy legend Lily Tomlin played a salty septuagenarian in Paul Weitz’s “Grandma” — I’ve been trying to track down a copy of her one-woman show, “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.”

Well, the search is over.

Last week, on Friday night, Tomlin sat down with “Frankie and Grace” co-star and frequent collaborator Jane Fonda for the first public screening of the newly restored film, which made its debut at RescueFest — IndieCollect’s first-ever showcase of films restored by the organization — in Los Angeles.

Long out of print and nearly always incomplete, the feature version (directed and shot by John Bailey) was released in 1991, six years after Tomlin performed — and perfected — her show live at New York’s Plymouth Theater.

Reviewing “Search” back in 1985, Frank Rich called it “the most genuinely subversive comedy to be produced on Broadway in years” in...

Smile Train is an international children’s charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. Millions of children in developing countries with unrepaired clefts live in shame, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking. Cleft repair surgery is simple, and the transformation is immediate. Smile Train’s sustainable model provides training and funding to empower local doctors in 85+ developing countries to provide 100%-free cleft repair surgery in their own communities. To learn more about how Smile Train’s sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.org.

Celebrity supporters

Smile Train has 44 known supporters, including Robin Williams, Reba McEntire, and Lily Tomlin

Areas of work ChildrenHealth Read more about Smile Train's work and celebrity supporters. Related articles Ltts Exclusive: Christopher Meloni And Smile TrainBuy Guitar String Bracelets And Support CharityAishwarya Rai To Bring Smiles To ChildrenMichael...

Jim Abrahams, one of the writers and directors behind some of the greatest and most quotable spoof and slapstick comedies of the 20th century — including Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and Hot Shots! — died Tuesday, Nov. 26, Variety reports. He was 80.

Abrahams’ son, Joseph, confirmed his death. No cause of death was given.

Abrahams spent the bulk of his career working alongside his two childhood friends, brothers David and Jerry Zucker. Jerry Zucker, in a statement shared with Rolling Stone, called Abrahams “our third brother.”

He continued: “He had a rebellious streak that drove him.

Filmmaker Jim Abrahams, whose work includes co-directing the iconic comedy movie Airplane!, has passed away.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Jim Abrahams died on Tuesday at his home in Santa Monica, California. According to his son, Joseph, the filmmaker's passing was due to natural causes. He was 80 years old.

Abrahams has long been known for his work on several popular slapstick comedy movies. He frequently collaborated with filmmaking brothers Jerry and David Zucker, and the trio co-wrote John Landis' 1977 comedy Kentucky Fried Movie. They followed this up by co-writing and co-directing Airplane!, the 1980 spoof of disaster movies starring Leslie Nielsen, Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, and Robert Stack.

With a budget of less than $4 million, the comedy earned over $171 million at the box office. The film also won a WGA Award for Best Adapted Comedy. It is still remembered fondly as one of the best slapstick comedies ever made, often quoted by...

The world would have been a far less funny place without Jim Abrahams, who passed away today at the age of 80.

Abrahams is likely best remembered for his iconic collaborations with brothers David and Jerry Zucker. The trio’s live “Kentucky Fried Theater” shows eventually paved the way for their first film as screenwriters: The Kentucky Fried Movie. As directors, the Zaz comedy team that gave us all-time classics like Airplane! and Top Secret!, and they later penned the David Zucker-directed The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

When it came to comedies with exclamation points in the titles, they really couldn't be beat.

Speaking of emphatic punctuation, Abrahams continued the absurd, rapid-fire comedic style he pioneered with the Zuckers in his solo directorial effort Hot Shots!, which was quickly followed by Hot Shots! Part Deux.

While the first movie began as a parody of Top Gun,...

Jim Abrahams, a film director and writer behind hit slapstick comedies like “Airplane!,” “Hot Shots!,” the “Naked Gun” series and more, died Tuesday, his son Joseph confirmed to Variety. He was 80.

With his childhood friends Jerry and David Zucker, Abrahams formed the filmmaking trio, called Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, and popularized the spoof genre of the 1980s.

“Jim Abrahams redefined the boundaries of humor through groundbreaking works like ‘Airplane!’ and ‘The Naked Gun’ series. Together with Jerry and David Zucker, he transformed satire into an art form, inspiring generations of comedians and filmmakers and leaving an indelible mark on the world of comedy,” said the National Comedy Center executive director Journey Gunderson in a statement.

With the Zucker brothers, Abrahams founded the The Kentucky Fried Theater while they all attended college together at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1971. That led to them making their film debut with the indie sketch...

One of the major contributors to the comedy film world, Jim Abrahams, has reportedly passed away at the age of 80. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that his son, Joseph, confirmed that Abrahams died of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica. The renowned writer/director was best known as part of the trio Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, which also consisted of David and Jerry Zucker. All three would produce the immensely beloved comedy Airplane! along with The Naked Gun movies.

The trio would break through by writing the sketch film The Kentucky Fried Movie, which was helmed by John Landis. The Zaz team would also write and direct the spy film parody Top Secret!, which starred Val Kilmer in his debut film role, as well as the Bette Midler and Danny DeVito comedy Ruthless People. The team would eventually go their separate ways, but Abrahams would keep directing with his own comedies,...

Jim Abrahams, the writer-director who with brothers Jerry and David Zucker turned the comedy genre on its ear with such zany efforts as Airplane!, Police Squad! and The Naked Gun films, died Tuesday. He was 80.

Abrahams died of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son Joseph told The Hollywood Reporter.

The trio made their first mainstream impression by writing the sketch-filled Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), directed by John Landis in his prelude to Animal House, and they also combined for Top Secret! (1984), starring a young Val Kilmer, and Ruthless People (1986), featuring Bette Midler and Danny DeVito.

Without his childhood buddies from Wisconsin, Abrahams directed Big Business (1988), starring Midler and Lily Tomlin, and co-wrote and helmed Hot Shots! (1991) and its 1993 sequel, both starring Charlie Sheen.

Joke-filled and laden with sight gags and puns, the humor of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, or Zaz as they came to be known, was fast,...

Jim Abrahams, who co-wrote and co-directed Airplane and a number of other comedy movies with Jerry and David Zucker, has died. Abrahams' son confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the filmmaker died of natural causes in his Santa Monica home on Tuesday. He was 80 years old.

Abrahams was born in...

Exclusive: Like mother, like daughter? Abbott Elementary fans will soon find out if the old adage rings true for Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) in an upcoming Season 4 episode.

Talia Shire, of The Godfather and Rocky fame, will appear as a guest star in Episode 8 as Teresa Schemmenti.

The episode is airing on December 4 as part of a one-hour holiday special featuring two back-to-back episodes.

It seems only fitting that the Italian-American actress, well known as Adrian Balboa from the Rocky franchise, would make an appearance in the Philly based comedy series. Shire, who has appeared in more than 40 film and television roles, is also famous for her role as Connie Corleone in The Godfather.

Both roles earned her an Academy Award nomination. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe and received the New York Critics Award for Rocky.

She also appeared in the television classic series Rich Man,...

Netflix's critically acclaimed comedy series, Grace and Frankie, ended after seven seasons, and many are wondering what the show's ending means and why it was canceled. Created by Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris, Grace and Frankie follows Grace Hanson (Jane Fonda) and Frances "Frankie" Bergstein (Lily Tomlin) who are both married to lawyer husbands, Robert Hanson (Martin Sheen) and Sol Bergstein (Sam Waterston). However, the titular pair learn that their husbands Robert and Sol have been in love with each other for years and that they are leaving their wives to be together.

Both Frankie and Grace move into their joint beach house despite never having been very close to each other when they were still married. However, throughout the series, Grace and Frankie get involved in a series of misadventures, romantic conflicts, and family drama that forces them to bond with each other, eventually resulting...