News

The beloved “Star Wars” sequel “The Empire Strikes Back” is set to open this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival on April 24, with director George Lucas presenting the film for its 45th anniversary.

“’The Empire Strikes Back’ is like ‘The Godfather Part II.’ Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more,” TCM’s primetime anchor Ben Mankiewicz said in a statement. “The first ‘Star Wars’ picture in 1977 ignited a new era in Hollywood and turned a generation of young people into passionate movie fans for life. Then, somehow, three years later, along comes ‘Empire,’ which might even be better. It’s a stunning accomplishment and surely stands one of the great achievements in the history of film.”

Additional titles that will screen at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival include “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “The Lady Eve,” “Cinderella,” “Apocalypse Now,...

A special 45th anniversary screening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back will kick off the 16th TCM Classic Film Festial, in Hollywood, on Thursday, April 24, Turner Classic Movies announced on Wednesday, and the visionary architect of the Star Wars cinematic universe, George Lucas, will be in attendance.

“The Empire Strikes Back is like The Godfather Part II. Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more. Empire not only dazzled and delighted Star Wars fans, it pushed the boundaries of moviemaking, further deepening its characters and expanding the most popular cinematic universe of all time,” said Ben Mankiewicz, TCM’s primetime anchor and the official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “The first Star Wars picture in 1977 ignited a new era in Hollywood and turned a generation of young people into passionate movie fans for life. Then, somehow, three years later,...

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the second film in the initial Star Wars trilogy, will open the 16th annual TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday, April 24, and on board to present the film will be director George Lucas, Turner Classics Movies announced.

Celebrating its 45th Anniversary, the gala presentation and opening night launches a weekend fest showcasing exclusive programming themed around “Grand Illusions: Fantastic Worlds on Film.”

“The Empire Strikes Back is like The Godfather Part II,” said Ben Mankiewicz, TCM Primetime Anchor and Official Host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more. Empire not only dazzled and delighted Star Wars fans, it pushed the boundaries of moviemaking, further deepening its characters and expanding the most popular cinematic universe of all time.”

Continued Mankiewicz, “The first Star Wars picture in 1977 ignited a new...

“Impressive. Most Impressive.”

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has revealed Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the second film in the Star Wars trilogy, will open the 16th annual TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday, April 24th. Celebrating its 45th Anniversary, the gala presentation will bring visionary director George Lucas to present the film. The opening night launches an exhilarating weekend in the heart of Hollywood, showcasing exclusive programming themed around “Grand Illusions: Fantastic Worlds on Film.”

“The Empire Strikes Back is like The Godfather Part II. Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more. Empire not only dazzled and delighted Star Wars fans, it pushed the boundaries of moviemaking, further deepening its characters and expanding the most popular cinematic universe of all time,” said Ben Mankiewicz, TCM Primetime Anchor and Official Host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “The first Star...

As Game of Thrones fanatics eagerly anticipate Season 3 of House of the Dragon, not to mention the countless other spin-offs in the works, one HBO original series is the perfect placeholder. In 2005, the premium cable channel unveiledRome, a wildly ambitious and highly expensive historical epic boasting all the large-scale cinematic bells and whistles Game of Thrones has been praised for.

Winner of seven Primetime Emmy Awards, Rome is ranked #90 on IMDb's Top 250 TV Shows and holds a 96% Rotten Tomatoes audience score. Perhaps more timely and topical than ever, the lofty big-budget TV event portrays the final days of the Roman Republic as it is overtaken and turned into the Roman Empire, shifting perspectives from those fighting on the street and those making decisions in their ivory towers. In plainer terms, Rome walked so Game of Thrones could run.

'Game of Thrones' Is One of the Most Successful TV Series...

Alex Garland's 2024 dystopian thriller Civil War was an unflinching look at what could be the future of America, and though that film was based on fiction, his new film with co-director Ray Mendoza comes from the latter's experiences as a former U.S. Navy Seal. Titled Warfare, the A24 movie is set to release next month, and first reactions from critics who saw an early screening have thus far had nothing but good things to say about it.

Drew Taylor from The Wrap calls Warfare "almost unbearably tense," while also adding that it’s a "you-are-there combat movie free of nearly all frills." He continues: "Excellent performances from the young cast, with Garland and Mendoza working beautifully together. Also has one of the most incredible sound mixes ever — see it in the loudest theater." Erik David from Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes echoed those sentiments, calling Warfare "the most intense...

O, the cinema. Where images come to life. After centuries of visual entertainment being restrained to static scenes in paintings and photographs, moving pictures allowed us to see beyond the image. A story told in 24 images every second. Combining the visual beauty of paintings with the engaging storytelling of literature. Over the decades of cinema’s existence has come with it the task in making these images look as beautiful as they can be. To have them carry the same emotional weight that paintings provide with a simple snapshot. These five films used their superb cinematography and art direction to prove that the moving image has to the ability not only to depict breathtaking images worthy of framing on a wall, but take us into a world in a fashion that only cinema can deliver. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited...

Few figures in professional wrestling history have had as much influence both in and out of the ring as Paul Heyman. From his days running Ecw to guiding the careers of some of WWE’s biggest stars, Heyman has played a crucial role in shaping modern wrestling. But perhaps his most significant contribution in recent years has been his role in crafting the "Tribal Chief" persona for Roman Reigns, a character that redefined WWE’s main event scene and transformed someone who had struggled to connect with the audience into an all-time great and future Hall of Famer. And according to Heyman, that character was heavily inspired by an iconic war film: Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.

Hollywood is where imaginative stories are put on the silver screen and people with minimal backgrounds can make historical careers of glamour. But aside from inviting in people of various backgrounds and creative mindsets, Hollywood has encouraged, mostly indirectly, daring filmmakers to go against its system and attempt to make successful pictures outside of the often creatively restraining industry. Legendary directors Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas formed in the early 1970s the best example of such rebellion with American Zoetrope, an independent film company which in the days prior to each of their legendary success, was their conjoined mission to challenge the Hollywood status quo in moviemaking, inviting a diverse array of storytelling and directors to form a new kind of cinema alternative. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to...

A classic Marlon Brando movie that generated both critical acclaim and intense controversy is now available for a new generation of viewers to discover. Last Tango in Paris is streaming on Prime Video.

Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris stars The Godfather's Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider. The drama follows a grieving American widower who enters a passionate but emotionally complex relationship with a young Parisian woman. The film pushed boundaries with its unfiltered depiction of intimacy, earning both critical acclaim and outrage upon its release.

RelatedMarlon Brando Starred in This 99% Fresh Gangster Movie 18 Years Before The Godfather (& It's Practically Flawless)

18 years before he led The Godfather, the legendary actor Marlon Brando starred in a gangster movie that maintains a 99% Tomatometer score.

Over the years, it has been re-evaluated through a modern lens, with many questioning whether its artistic merits outweigh the ethical concerns surrounding its production. Although...

Few TV series come with such a prestigious pedigree as “The Sympathizer“. Adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel; co-produced by HBO and top-of-the-line independent film studio A24; co-created, co-produced, co-written and co-directed by Park Chan-wook; also helmed by top Brazilian film director Fernando Meirelles; and co-starring Hollywood mega-star Robert Downey Jr. in no less than five (!) different roles. In fact the miracle is that the show, a miniseries in seven episodes, is never weighed down by the sheer expectations sustaining it. On the contrary, it manages to offer a thrilling, fun and heartbreaking roller-coaster ride into the story of its refugee characters.

Click on the image below to follow our Tribute to Netflix

As prestigious as it is, “The Sympathizer” is also a highly unlikely production. After all, none of the main filmmakers or producers involved hails from Vietnam or from the Vietnamese-American community at the heart of the show,...

Studiocanal launched a brand new official podcast – and the host might just be familiar to Film Stories listeners.

This is a bit of an odd story for me to write. Basically, well, because I’m in it. I’ll see how I get on.

The rather fine folks at Studiocanal have launched an official podcast, digging into the huge archive of movies under its stewardship. It’s arriving regularly, and as well as focusing on a movie of the month, there’s a broader exploration of other bits and bobs too.

Don’t take our word for it. Here’s Jamie McHale, the head of theatrical marketing at the studio: “We’re thrilled to be launching an official podcast to celebrate our incredible library of titles and upcoming theatrical releases. The in-depth analysis and regular features such as “Dream Double Bills” and “Hidden Gems” from Simon and his guests are...

No film so perfectly encapsulates the generation gap in America in the '60s than John Wayne's corny Vietnam War epic, The Green Berets. The genre has reached such a level of ubiquity and cliché that soon it birthed its own parody in the form of Tropic Thunder. There’s no shortage of productions exploring the political nuances and the social ramifications of the war today, but that was a different story in 1968.

Adapting the 1965 best-selling novel of the same name to theaters, it boasted John Wayne in the lead, with The Fugitive star David Janssen, Jim Hutton, and George Takei in supporting roles. The Vietnam War was a travesty in many respects. Blame US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. For the movie, that is. Come to think of it, blame him for the war too. Reactions to the action flick were unkind. For screenwriters, journalists, and directors, it only...

Quick LinksMarlon Brando Is a Hollywood LegendThe Godfather Was Brando's Greatest WorkOn the Waterfront Was Similarly ExtraordinaryOn the Waterfront Still Holds Up Today

Gangster movies have long held sway over audiences. Just as stories about Robin Hood filled people's minds in medieval times, these tales eventually evolved into stories of organized crime. Bonnie and Clyde thrilled people living during the Great Depression, and Al Capone became a giant after Prohibition. The idea of everyday people turning to crime for a myriad of reasons has always been compelling. After all, crime always lurks just outside of reach for many people. Gangsters, who control crime itself, are just as salient as the idea of becoming a king.

Hollywood, of course, was quick to capitalize on the idea of gangsters. The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) was a silent film that saw a man fighting back against gangsters who stole his wallet. 1927's Underworld...

Francis Ford Coppola is finding the razzle dazzle in his multiple 2025 Razzie Award nominations.

The “Megalopolis” auteur garnered six nominations for the futuristic feature — which ironically is also exactly how many Academy Award wins he has. While Coppola’s self-funded “Megalopolis” was decidedly not an Oscar contender, the writer/director is still honored to be recognized for taking a “risk” with the film, even if it was deemed Razzie-worthy. The Razzie Awards infamously celebrate the “worst” films of the year.

“I am thrilled to accept the Razzie award in so many important categories for ‘Megalopolis,’ and for the distinctive honor of being nominated as the worst director, worst screenplay, and worst picture at a time when so few have the courage to go against the prevailing trends of contemporary moviemaking!” Coppola wrote on Instagram. “In this wreck of a world today, where art is given scores as if it were professional wrestling,...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This March, Tubi is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the brilliant comedy-drama series Loudermilk to the beloved sci-fi drama series Timeless. However, for this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Tubi in the next month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the five best movies coming to Tubi in March 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (March 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92% Credit – Warner Bros.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory is a musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart from a screenplay by Roald Dahl. Based on Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the 1971 film follows Charlie, a poor young boy who gets a chance to explore a famous but mysterious chocolate factory run by the eccentric Willy Wonka.

Looking for something to stream that won’t break the bank? From award-winning films like Craig Gillespie’s “I, Tonya” and Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” to thrillers like David Fincher’s “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” Mubi is bringing a new slate of films to the ad-supported platform.

If binging is more your speed, new TV shows added to Tubi in March will include the 1971 classic “All In The Family,” the sitcom “Community” and the “Men in Black” series. And for those looking for frights, the first four “Insidious” films will be available to stream.

Along with the updated library, Tubi is also premiering three original thrillers.

Here are all the new titles coming to Tubi in March:

Tubi Original Thrillers

“My Husband’s Mistress” follows a successful businesswoman as she discovers her husband’s affair and sets out to destroy his career — and life. (3/14)

“Invasive 2: Getaway” follows a woman,...

Gene Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner for “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven,” and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their Santa Fe, N.M. home. The office of Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed their deaths to Variety after midnight Thursday. There is no immediate indication of foul play, per authorities, though the Sheriff’s office did not immediately provide a cause of death. Hackman was 95. Arakawa was 63.

On Wednesday, Sheriff’s deputies visited the home of Hackman and Arakawa, who married in 1991. The couple was found dead, alongside their dog.

“All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant,” the sheriff told the Santa Fe New Mexican. The statement came before authorities had positively identified the pair, per the publication. “I want to assure the community and neighborhood...

Tracker spoilers and updates tease in the next episode of the show, “Nightingale,” Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) embarks on a mission to locate a fellow survivalist.

This journey could provide Colter with valuable insights into his own identity through the experiences of another; however, first, he must confront a menacing biker gang-will he be prepared?

Colter Tracks Someone Like Himself

In the thrilling upcoming episode of Tracker Season 2, Episode 10 titled “Nightingale,” Colter Shaw faces a formidable challenge as he hunts down an individual whose abilities match his own.

As reported by Collider, the premise reveals that this elusive target is deemed a fugitive, accused of murder. The pursuit intensifies due to the target’s survivalist nature; when a survivalist chooses to vanish, they become nearly impossible to locate.

This scenario echoes the introspective themes found in classic Joseph Conrad literature and has influenced iconic films like Apocalypse Now.

When Colter...

Actor Dennis Hopper was the kind of artist myths are made from. He was an incredibly talented performer with a larger-than-life personality that frequently got him into trouble. His reckless behavior and intense drug abuse could make him incredibly difficult to work with, and he even tried to get Marlon Brando to fist-fight him after a misunderstanding before the filming of "Apocalypse Now," leading to the two being separated on set at all times. In the mid-1970s, however, he behaved so badly while filming a movie in Australia that he was not only declared dead on his feet and banned from driving a car in the state of Victoria ever again, but he was also kicked right on out of the country.

That movie was "Mad Dog Morgan," a disturbing 1976 outback Western based on the true life misdeeds of bushranger and outlaw Dan Morgan (whom Hopper played in the film). The Ozploitation,...

From no network wanting to run it, to now being one of the most highly acclaimed shows out there, The Sopranos truly revolutionised television. Its popularity knew no bounds, and James Gandolfini’s portrayal of Tony Soprano became a household name. He was a huge part of the show that perfectly brought forth psychological elements with a mix of crime drama.

Michael Imperioli and James Gandolfini as Christopher Moltisanti and Tony Soprano in The Sopranos | Credits: HBO

While the show deeply captivated audiences with its storytelling, Michael Imperioli’s comments about it might change something for the fans. For him, The Sopranos was much more than just a crime drama.

Michael Imperioli had some strong words for The Sopranos

The Sopranos had an interesting beginning. From being rejected by every major network to becoming one of the greatest shows of all time, it has surely come a long way. While...

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of March titles. The Tubi March 2025 slate features new Tubi Originals, TV series, and numerous action, art house, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, the company engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library of over 250,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of exclusive Originals, and nearly 250 live channels.

You can watch the Tubi March 2025 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the Tubi site.

The Z-...

War films have been a source of entertainment in the film world for decades. Displaying the chaotic conditions of the battlefield while demonstrating the comradery among a group of soldiers comes with a grounding effect that keeps the audience on their toes. Most war films build out extravagantly on events within a vast and complicated war. Every war fought comes with numerous adaptations that emphasize victory. However, the Vietnam War came with horrible casualties and limited victories, which changed the war film genre drastically. Directors have taken some of the stories about the Vietnam War and adapted them to showcase how soldiers fought valiantly while losing their innocence every step of the way.

Films like Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and Platoon painted a bleak and elaborate picture of American soldiers putting their lives on the line during the lengthy twenty-two-year war in Vietnam. The lesser-known film following a moment in the Vietnam War,...

Jeremy Strong approached his new Super Bowl ad with major self-awareness.

The 46-year-old The Apprentice actor collaborated with fellow Boston native Ben Affleck for a Dunkin Donuts commercial that aired on Super Bowl Sunday. In Jeremy‘s scene, he emerged from a barrel of coffee grounds in a reference to the film Apocalypse Now.

Keep reading to find out more…

According to Jeremy, the moment was meant to poke fun at his reputation for being an intense method actor.

“I had no trouble taking the piss out of myself. I’ve been accused of being this incredibly self-serious, pretentious person,” he told Variety in a new interview.

“I thought it’d be good to have a laugh at this idea of being a method actor, because I’ve never called myself a method actor, and I’m not a method actor,” he added.

Jeremy also said that he hopes the...

Jeremy Strong has no desire to host “Saturday Night Live” — but not because he takes himself too seriously, he says. Stop rolling your eyes and watch his viral, self-deprecating Dunkin’ Donuts Super Bowl ad.

The short film, which was directed by Ben Affleck, features Strong having an “Apocalypse Now”-esque moment with coffee grinds and trying to “get into character” in his trailer.

“I wanted to poke fun at this idea of me as this sententious, self-serious actor,” Strong told Variety. “It was my response to the idea that I ‘don’t get the joke.'”

He added, “I’ve never wanted to host ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I’m someone who needs a certain degree of control in order to be free, and I need to do a lot of preparation. But this felt like a chance, in a way, to do a single ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch, just one...

It could have been a cash grab, but Jeremy Strong prepared for his Dunkin’ Donuts commercial like an actor getting ready to play Hamlet. He spent days thinking about how to make the Super Bowl spot unique before landing on the idea to send up his own reputation for going “full method.” The ad, which was directed by Ben Affleck and features Casey Affleck, finds Strong submerged in coffee grounds, refusing to leave his trailer to film his spot for the breakfast chain until the muse appears.

“I wanted to poke fun at this idea of me as this sententious, self-serious actor,” Strong says. “It was my response to the idea that I ‘don’t get the joke.'”

Ever since the New Yorker published a deep look into his intense approach, Strong has been perceived as one of those actors with a capital “A,” ostentatiously suffering for his art.

[Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for “Severance” Season 2 Episode 4.]

It may not be an official tagline, but “Severance” Season 2 is really keeping Kier weird.

From the strangers sent in to replace Mark’s (Adam Scott) team to the weird paintings gifted by the board to Milchick (Trammell Tillman) to Lorne (Gwendoline Christie) and the crew at Mammalians Nurturable, the Apple TV thriller continues to embrace the bizarre this season.

In Episode 4, that continues with the Ortbo, or Outdoor Retreat Team Building Occurrence. From the acronym to the location to fireside stories about Kier Eagan’s secret twin brother Dieter — it’s a corporate retreat as only “Severance” could do it, laced with unsettling details from start to finish.

“It’s the first chance our Innies get to be outside, and for some of us, it was our first chance as actors on this show to get to be outside,” Zach Cherry told IndieWire about the experience.

The term 'method acting' gets thrown around Hollywood a lot, with actors like Daniel Day Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, and the late Heath Ledger being renowned for the extreme measures they took to get into their past roles.Succession's Jeremy Strong is another famous method actor, and even went so far as to tear gas himself for The Trial of the Chicago 7. But, his latest commercial, alongside Ben and Casey Affleck, has the actor attempting a new method... beans.

The Affleck brothers and Strong all recently starred in a new Dunkin' Donuts commercial. Titled "The Bean Method," the 45-second commercial ahead of the Super Bowl sees Casey and Ben preparing to go into Strong's dressing room to tell him they're ready to start shooting. The pair know Strong is using a strange acting technique to get into character, but nothing could have prepared them for what came next.

After working...

George Lucas is best known for creating the Star Wars franchise, a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon that started in 1977. However, Lucas first made a name for himself with the 1973 coming-of-age film America Graffiti. It was produced by Francis Ford Coppola known for directing classics such as The Godfather.

Francis Ford Coppola produced George Lucas’ America Graffiti (Credits: Jake’s Takes | YouTube).

During an interview, Coppola shared his thoughts on working with Lucas and watching the latter shape his epic space opera saga. At the same time, Coppola revealed that one fan-favorite character from the original trilogy was based on his personality. Here is what Coppola had to say about Star Wars and the character Lucas modeled after him.

Francis Ford Coppola revealed how George Lucas based one Star Wars character on him Star Wars‘ Han Solo was modeled after Francis Ford Coppola (Credit: Lucasfilm).

Francis Ford Coppola directed classics such...

Francis Ford Coppola's impressive filmography is just as well known as the director's varied history when it comes to troubled behind-the-scenes productions of those very same cinematic classics. The iconic filmmaker has made such masterpieces as Apocalypse Now, The Conversation,The Outsiders, and is perhaps best recognized for his trilogy of Godfather films that would set a new standard for Mafia and crime films for decades to come. There are plenty of iconic moments in the films that would be referenced or paid homage to in various forms, but, it turns out, the production on the first film was a struggle for Coppola, who fought to keep the creative integrity of his adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel intact.

In fact, Paramount wanted one line spoken early on by Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in the opening wedding sequence of the film to be removed. In an excerpt from "The Godfather Treasures" by Peter Cowie,...

Audiences love to feel as if they are truly engulfed in the moment, and war films give fans the chance to experience the traumas of international conflict in the comfort of their own homes. While it might seem strange, these films allow storytellers to express the reality of war and step aside from the typical patriotic stories. Plus, war movies allow directors and producers to experiment with a series of exceptional sets and special effects, wowing audiences on the big screen.

Yet, a lot of the best war films only focus on WWI and II. But there are a ton of other hidden gems that are begging to be discovered, especially by avid movie buffs. These films showcase history from an entirely different perspective and give actors the chance to portray a wealth of exciting characters.

A Hit Novel Is Transformed Into a Blood-Curdling Classic Apocalypse Now

Loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel,...

Harrison Ford is one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, but the financiers on Blade Runner clearly weren’t paying attention because they had the unmitigated gall to question Ridley Scott’s choice to cast him in the leading role. Can you imagine questioning Harrison Ford? Or Ridley Scott, for that matter?

“Harrison Ford was not a star,” Scott told GQ. “He had just finished flying the Millennium Falcon in ‘Star Wars.’ I remember my financiers saying, ‘Who the f*** is Harrison Ford?’ And I said, ‘You’re going to find out.’ So Harry became my leading man.” Ford had just finished shooting Raiders of the Lost Ark at the time, and Steven Speilberg gave Scott the thumbs up when the director asked if he should hire the actor for Blade Runner.

I feel like those Blade Runner financiers hadn’t been going to the movies. Sure, Ford was at the beginning of his career,...

When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, Hollywood didn't immediately rush out to make films about the conflict. Like everyone else, artists needed time to process what had happened over the last two decades: why did America go to war? Why did so many young men have to die? And how could we as a country move on? By the end of the 1970s, there were a slew of movies that dealt with the war both at home and abroad, with Apocalypse Now, Coming Home, and The Deer Hunter representing the artistic apex of the nascent genre. Among the Vietnam dramas that seemed to come and go during this period was Go Tell the Spartans, which had the misfortune of coming out the same year that The Deer Hunter and Coming Home swept the Oscars. Yet seen today, its pessimistic view of the American military's arrogance in the face of reality feels more relevant than ever.

Laurence Fishburne left CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for a specific reason. The show, which premiered on CBS in 2000, was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and ran for 15 seasons, in the process spawning half a dozen spinoffs including CSI: Miami, which ran for 10 seasons, and CSI: NY, which ran for nine. The flagship show, which followed a Las Vegas Police Department crime scene investigation team, featured a rotating cast of stars over the years, which included William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, George Eads, Jorja Fox, Paul Guilfoyle, Eric Szmanda, Robert David Hall, Louise Lombard, and Elisabeth Shue.

Laurence Fishburne joined the CSI franchise in 2008, first appearing on the flagship show in season 9 as former medical doctor Raymond Langston and becoming a main cast member two episodes later, after the departure of Petersen's longtime character Gil Grissom, who had been a part of the series since the pilot. During his tenure,...

For every Orson Welles or Quentin Tarantino, directors with meteoric rises to critical acclaim early in their careers, there are hundreds of filmmakers who experience humble, if not uninspiring, beginnings. Look no further than Francis Ford Coppola, whose thankless debut effort featured zero indicators of the vision behind The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. A gifted intellect and wiz-kid with limitless dreams, Coppola signed on for any projects he could align himself with, including the role of splicing together two pre-existing movies into one Frankenstein creation. Before he was lucky enough to undergo a crash course in economic, low-budget filmmaking by Roger Corman, the Megalopolis director started at the lowest rung imaginable with Tonight for Sure, a cheap, bizarre, and aimless sexploitation film crossed with a Western that is proof that you always have to start at the bottom.

Francis Ford Coppola is responsible for half a century of onscreen leading men. The greatest Hollywood actors of the later 20th century, from Al Pacino to Robert De Niro to Robert Duvall? They also got their big break in one of the first two "Godfather" films. That's not to say these actors wouldn't have been stars without Coppola's movies (none of them are exactly one-hit wonders), but the New Hollywood truly put several artists in the right place at the right time to produce classic films.

In 1983, Coppola did it again with "The Outsiders," adapting S.E. Hinton's 1967 coming-of-age novel about several low-class teenage "Greasers" in 1960s Oklahoma. The main ensemble was played by several then up-and-comers, now-stars: Ralph Macchio as the sensitive Johnny Cade, Matt Dillon as wannabe tough guy Dallas "Dally" Winston, and Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze as brothers Sodapop and Darrel "Darry" Curtis. Diane Lane also appears as Cherry,...

Movies become underrated for a wide variety of reasons. Oftentimes throughout film history, a movie has a poor initial box office run, but over the years, the film's critical standing increases, turning the movie into an acclaimed masterpiece. Some movies debut to substandard reviews from critics, but as time passes, the critical reception flip flops, causing the film to become a renowned work. Then, of course, there are just certain movies that not many have seen, resulting in that respective movie ranking as an underrated film.

A popular genre since the silent era, war movies have always remained successful at the box office. War films such as Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now, and Full Metal Jacket have become staple entries in the pop culture lexicon. However, there is an abundance of war movies made around the world that qualify as underrated gems. Fires on the Plain, The Big Red One,...

Tom Holland will be best known to most audiences for his role as Spider-Man in the MCU, and understandably so. The actor first played the iconic superhero in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, returning in two Avengers films and leading three solo movies, culminating with Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021. Now, he's set to play the character once more in the announced Spider-Man 4, but he'll likely also be showing up in movies like Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Holland, however, also has a number of titles under his belt outside of the MCU. His first major movie was actually The Impossible in 2012, and he has since appeared in movies like In the Heart of the Sea (2015), The Devil All the Time (2020), Cherry (2021), and Uncharted (2022). Holland made a major career move in 2023, starring in his first ever TV show, a limited series for Apple TV+.

Tom Holland Recalls Disagreements...

“Happy New Year. For me, this is a dream come true,” said Frances Ford Coppola, surveying the audience that had come to see his passion project, “Megalopolis,” at an American Cinematheque conversation-and-screening event to kick off 2025. The dream part of it, for him, was the chance to spend 100 minutes talking not very much about his passion project itself, but rather using it as a springboard for an infinitely widespread discussion about about political, economic and social ideals.

“Megalopolis,” as anyone who’s seen it will know, is largely about lending credibility to utopian ideals that politicians and numbers-crunchers would view as cynical. And Coppola’s own personal vision of a utopia involves Q&As in which film fans aren’t asking questions about budgets or box office or critics or even filmmaking minutiae but, rather, engaging him on the subjects he said he’d rather be talking about, in this “interactive” discussion.

Being the president is a tough job. Looking over millions of people in the United States can be exhausting, and just like everyone else, presidents need time to unwind. Thankfully, The White House includes multiple amenities that allow presidents to relax, ranging from a bowling alley to a built-in movie theater. Quite a few presidents have spent many hours in The White House movie theater, but the 39th president, Jimmy Carter, had a greater love for the theater than the others.

Jimmy Carter, who died December 29, 2024, at the age of 100, watched hundreds of films in the presidential theater. Having established a film commission in Georgia when he was governor a few years before his presidency, Carter had quite the love for movies. He saw his favorite film, Rocky, while he was in office, and he screened many films for friends and political peers. He pushed boundaries for what kinds of...

Happy New Year! As is our favorite way to celebrate the dawning of a new year, we’re looking ahead at a very big batch of 2025 releases we’ve a) already seen and b) can heartily recommend to you, our readers.

As is tradition, this list includes a hefty number of films we’ve caught on the festival circuit and are bound for a 2025 release near year. They include consistent favorite filmmakers like David Cronenberg, Steven Soderbergh, Jia Zhang-ke, and Miguel Gomes, plus a wide variety of brand-new and rising film stars to get to know right now. Some of these films have already popped up on our annual critics survey, but this list also includes a batch of films worthy of attention right now, and through the rest of the year.

For those of you eager to load up your movie-going calendar for the coming months, let this list...

Oscar-winner Robert Duvall has starred in dozens of films spanning a 60+ year career, racking up six additional nominations in the process, but how many of those titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Duvall made his big screen debut with the small but memorable role of Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962), released when he was 31-years-old. His first Oscar nomination came just 10 years later: Best Supporting Actor for Francis Ford Coppola‘s mob classic “The Godfather” (1972).

It would take 11 years before Duvall finally clinched that elusive Best Actor Oscar for “Tender Mercies” (1983), a small-scale drama about a drunken country-western singer working towards redemption. He would compete five additional times: lead for “The Great Santini” (1980) and “The Apostle” (1997); supporting for “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “A Civil Action” (1998), and “The Judge” (2014).

Duvall has found success on the small screen as well,...

Few Westerns are more deserving of the "classic" moniker than 1969's "True Grit," one of John Wayne's best films and a model for the genre that continues to be influential today. That's in part because the film was thrown back into the public consciousness in 2010 when Joel and Ethan Coen remade "True Grit" with Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin, and Matt Damon. However, the original still stands on its own and remains notable for giving Wayne his only Oscar win.

Both the original and the 2010 film are adaptations of a 1968 novel by Charles Portis, but given how old the 1969 version is, you might not be surprised to hear that most of its stars have passed away in the decades since. Wayne died in 1979, and Glen Campbell passed away in 2017. Dennis Hopper and Jeremy Slate, who play two of the main villains in the film, have also passed away.

Josh Brolin’s Thanos remains unbeatable as one of the best live-action villains in the MCU. Some even consider his role as one of the greatest villain roles ever. Thanos seemed like the ultimate villain to the Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. That was until other multiverse storylines post-Endgame started treating him like a joke.

Josh Brolin as Thanos in Avengers: Endgame | Credits: Marvel Studios

One of the harshest criticisms against the depiction of Thanos in Marvel’s animated series What If…? was the ease with which he was killed off in multiple episodes. It went against the sense of dread and invincibility built around the villain in the Infinity Saga, where Doctor Strange famously predicted only a 1 in 14 million chance of defeating him.

Josh Brolin’s Thanos will be back in What If…? Season 3 and fans are skeptical Josh Brolin voices Thanos in episodes of What If…...

Beginning in the late 1960s and spreading into the 1970s, American cinema was revolutionized by the New Hollywood movement. At the forefront of this movement was a crew of directors from different entertainment disciplines who spoke to the exploding youth counterculture with classics like "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," and "M*A*S*H." The world felt like it was going mad, but the movies were somehow helping us make sense of this descent. Before moviegoers could adjust to this newfangled mode of motion picture art, the film brats arrived. Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg rattled the industry's cage in wildly different ways. It was a glorious time. Then studios, with the perhaps unwitting assistance of Lucas and Spielberg, locked in on a formula: They could make hundreds of millions of dollars off a single movie if they hit the right commercial buttons.

Although cinema is an art form, first and foremost, it is also a business that requires financial support to be sustained. A healthy box office is necessary for the medium to remain a cornerstone of popular culture, as studios will only be willing to invest in future projects if it is proven that there is an audience that is willing to go out and see them. 2024 was a year in which there were tremendous box office highs, but the delays due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes did lead to some crushing lows.

Box office performances are a compelling way to examine where the industry is headed, but it is not necessarily an indication of quality. Although films like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Inside Out 2,” “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” and “Wicked: Part One” performed extraordinarily well this year, few publications that take themselves seriously...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Museum of the Moving Image

See It Big! Let It Snow brings 35mm prints of All That Heaven Allows, Doctor Zhivago, and Meet Me In St. Louis.

Museum of Modern Art

A dual celebration of Marcello and Chiara Mastroianni continues, this weekend bringing films by Raúl Ruiz and Marco Bellocchio.

Anthology Film Archives

A look at Robert Frank and his influences continues, including Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit and Blue Velvet on 35mm, while Scenes from the Streets begins.

Roxy Cinema

The New World and The Magnificent Ambersons shows on 35mm; Hardcore plays Friday and Saturday, the latter day bringing a Paul Schrader Q&a; Eastern Promises and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle also screen.

Metrograph

Lost In Translation, 2046, Phantom Thread, and Brokeback Mountain play on 35mm; The Holidays at Metrograph, It Looks Pretty from a Distance, and This...

Who says physical media is dead?

Lionsgate is launching Lionsgate Limited, described as a “new premium home entertainment platform of curated specialty releases, including some of the greatest movies of all time.”

Created with specialty collectors in mind, Lionsgate Limited celebrates “the artistry of film with premium, limited-edition home entertainment releases from Lionsgate’s expansive entertainment library. Through careful movie restoration in coordination with the original filmmaking teams, specially designed collectible packaging and extra content that honors the vision of the filmmakers, each Lionsgate Limited offering is unique and collectible.”

The line recently kicked off in grand fashion with a 50th anniversary release of Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” in a brilliant new collector’s edition 4K steelbook. Additionally, the line released a new version of the sold-out “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut” 4K steelbook, in a handsome napalm sunrise edition 6-disc set. And there’s more on the way...

Beware, reader! There are spoilers ahead for the "What We Do in the Shadows" series finale, bleh bleh bleh!

Much like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Fargo," and "M*A*S*H," it didn't take long for the "What We Do in the Shadows" TV series to justify its existence, step out of its movie counterpart's shadow, and turn into one of the best comedies on television. For six seasons, the show has followed the misadventures of a group of horny and buffoonish vampires who had long given up their mission to conquer the new world and simply lead static lives of hijinks, as well as the quest of their familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) to become a vampire despite discovering he has Van Helsing blood in him. Season 5 even had Guillermo finally turning into a creature of the night, only to realize that it was not for him and transform back into a human.

The Godfather Part III, the final chapter in Francis Ford Coppola’s epic Godfather trilogy, was given a wide theatrical release on December 25, 1990 – and as far as director Luca Guadagnino is concerned, that release date was the perfect choice for the film, as it happens to be his go-to choice for Christmas viewing.

When IndieWire asked Guadagnino what he likes to watch over the holidays, he replied, “[The Godfather Part III] is the best of the three for me. Part II is too perfect and The Godfather is too legendary. But Part III has the ambition of a man who did everything and the fragility of the man who is going toward this older part of his work and his life. And it’s full of this longing melancholy. The scene where Diane Keaton listens to her son sing at the party in the villa, where she wanders in her...