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Iconic indie producer Christine Vachon is getting her due from the 2025 Austin Film Festival. IndieWire can exclusively announce that Vachon will be feted with the acclaimed Polly Platt Award for Producing at this year’s Aff Writers Conference, which will take place from October 23 to 26. “Dear White People” showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser will also be honored with the Outstanding Television Writer Award during the annual conference.

Vachon is an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award winner who co-founded powerhouse Killer Films with partner Pamela Koffler in 1995. Across 30 years, the duo’s banner has produced more than 100 acclaimed films, including “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Far from Heaven,” “Still Alice,” “Past Lives” (which landed Vachon her first Oscar nomination in the Best Picture category), and “Carol.”

Vachon launched her career at Sundance in 1991 with her first feature film, which was “Carol” auteur Todd Haynes’ Grand Jury Prize-winning “Poison.

Indie distributor Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to “Paying for It,” an indie comedy about an introverted cartoonist who starts sleeping with sex workers that premiered positively in Toronto.

Set in the late ’90s, “Paying for It” is a live-action adaptation of Canadian alternative-cartoonist Chester Brown’s bestselling graphic novel. In the partly autobiographical film, when Chester’s girlfriend announces she wants to explore other romantic options, Brown opts to sleep with sex workers and discovers a new kind of intimacy.

“Paying for It” is directed by multidisciplinary artist Sook-Yin Lee, who was Chester Brown’s real romantic partner when the real-life story took place.

The film – which is executive produced by John Cameron Mitchell and Dan Beirne – stars Beirne, emerging actor Emily Lê (“Riceboy Sleeps”) and acclaimed activist, author and performer Andrea Werhun.

“Paying for It” launched from Toronto’s Platform section in 2024 and was named by...

Riverdale has a complicated legacy in pop culture. Despite being one of the final popular teen dramas to follow the 22-episode format and having seven seasons to its name, many remember the show for its bizarre storylines. The series, which started out as a simple murder mystery, went off the rails rather quickly after that.

The series, which ran from 2017 to 2023, was based on the light-hearted Archie Comics. The series, however, featured the characters of the small town of Riverdale dealing with threats from masked killers, organ-harvesting cults, aliens, witches, and parallel dimensions and timelines. Out of the 137 Riverdale episodes, ten episodes stood out as especially bizarre, leaving audiences confused and dumbfounded.

The Carrie Episode Broke the Show's Tone The Random Musical Numbers Made No Sense Image Via The CW

When Riverdale began, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa stated that music would be a part of the series but that it would be done naturally,...

The musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch premiered off-Broadway in 1998, before co-creator John Cameron Mitchell adapted it into a film in 2001. Mitchell, who starred in the original production, brought his Hedwig to the big screen as star and director, telling a story about love, gender beyond the binary, being an outsider, and self-acceptance. It was very much ahead of its time.

Nicole Kidman Rabbit Hole Role (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Nicole Kidman didn’t just play Becca in Rabbit Hole—she practically became her. And not in some “method actor” way. No, Kidman plunged so deep into the grief of losing a child that she ended up producing the damn movie too. Why? Because she had something to prove. To herself, Hollywood, and anyone who thought a film about loss could be too dark to sell.

Rabbit Hole isn’t your average tearjerker. It’s raw and brutally honest. Kidman’s character, Becca, a grieving mother, wrestles with rage, grief, and hopelessness after losing her son. Her emotions hit hard—neck muscles bulging, hands twisting. Kidman made it real, not holding back an ounce of the pain. “It was really raw, and I felt it was genuine and delicate,” Kidman alluded. Yeah, there’s no sugar-coating here.

But hold up—this film...

Michael C. Hall has won us over by playing dark and unconventional characters like David Fisher from Six Feet Under and the anti-hero, Dexter Morgan. His journey has been nothing short of iconic, and his talent has earned him worldwide recognition.

Michael C. Hall in Dexter | Showtime

Fame, awards, and critical acclaim aren’t the only things that came with his titular role in Dexter, but they also brought him hefty paychecks. So, let’s dive into how much Showtime valued the man who brought our favorite twisted vigilante to life.

Michael C. Hall’s massive payday on Dexter Michael C. Hall in Dexter | Showtime

The show Dexter first aired in 2006, and no one could’ve predicted the cultural impact it would have. It chronicled the life of Dexter Morgan, a blood-spatter analyst based in Miami who lives a double life as a vigilante serial killer. The concept turned out...

This article mentions suicide.

While discussions about classic movies are often focused on the highest-earning, biggest blockbuster sensations in a given year, the quieter and smaller independent films are the ones that frequently shine through for years to come. But with hundreds of movies coming out every year, and more and more independently financed movies making it to the big screen, some great movies end up left behind or underrated.

The 2000s was a decade filled with excellent independent movies, bolstered by the boom in independent films of the 1990s led by movie-making juggernauts like Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, and Wes Anderson. And while some indie movies are remembered as some of the best of the decade, some others that have been left behind should be at the top of film fans' watch lists.

This Cult Classic Is a Huge Hit in the LGBTQ Community...

“Is the sperm still in there?” That’s a question for the ages, but in the case of Luca Guadagnino’s new film, “Queer,” it’s apt in more ways than one. This particular query came (stop it) during a recent interview with Variety where Daniel Craig asked if a shot of sheets stained with semen was kept in the final cut’s establishing scene. In this opening tableaux, Guadagnino’s camera holds on a series of items that evoke the story about to unfold between Craig’s protagonist and the object of his desire, Drew Starkey’s Eugene Allerton. According to Guadagnino, that particular shot Craig’s referring to has since been removed after the actors watched a very early cut, but have no fear, Guadagnino reassures us, because, “Of course, there’s a lot of semen in the movie.”

Early on, Craig’s William Lee takes an unnamed...

Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by the already seasoned directors Hayao Miyazaki, who'd earned his bones at Toei, and Isao Takahata, who'd worked alongside him. With them was producer Toshio Suzuki, who, as Animage magazine editor, helped Miyazaki introduce "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind" to Japanese manga fans. While the manga wouldn't be completed until 1994, Suzuki encouraged and assisted Miyazaki in completing the film, which led to the founding of Ghibli.

Of the 24 films Studio Ghibli has produced to date — including "Nausicaa," which may have been a Topcraft and Toei production but wouldn't exist without Ghibli's founders — few are a total failure. Even the controversial Goro Miyazaki films have gleams to them that might shine brighter if he didn't have his father's massive shadow over him. But nor can a list say that they're almost all number ones, because that's not fun to debate. These rankings are subjective but...

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in February 2022 and has been updated multiple times since.]

Sex on film is nothing new, and yet unsimulated intercourse in non-pornographic movies has raised eyebrows and drawn eyeballs for decades. From Vincent Gallo’s controversial directing for “The Brown Bunny” to Robert Pattinson’s masturbatory method acting in “Little Ashes,” genuine intimate encounters captured on film — however staged they may be — can pull audiences into the bigger stories their writers and directors are trying to tell.

Catherine Breillat’s first film in 1976, “A Real Young Girl,” adapts her own controversial novel about a 14-year-old exploring her newfound sexuality. Breillat’s later work, 1999’s “Romance,” tells the story of a woman desperately seeking human connection and featured similar scenes, including sadomasochistic sex play.

“Actors are prostitutes because they’re asked to play other feelings,” Breillat told IndieWire. “This prostitution is not profane; it’s a sacred act that we give them.”

John Cameron Mitchell set out to “honor” sex as a pastime for real people,...

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

Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research

Éric Rohmer’s A Tale of Autumn screens on Sunday courtesy of Amnesiascope and Rohmer Fits.

Roxy Cinema

A 35mm print of Silent Hill shows Friday and Saturday, as does a Radiohead-scored Nosferatu; the latter day brings Apocalypse Now: Final Cut and a print of Love Streams; Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro screens on Sunday.

Anthology Film Archives

A Brad Dourif retrospective includes the actor in-person for Wise Blood on Saturday and Horseplayer on Sunday; films by Dreyer play in “Essential Cinema.”

IFC Center

The Guy Maddin series “Forbidden Rooms” begins; black-and-white restoration of Johnny Mnemonic and Julian Schnabel’s Basquiat play, as does a 40th-anniversary restoration of Paris, Texas; Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch play late.

Museum of Modern Art...

Arianne Phillips is a creative visionary. She's the costume designer behind -- cue prestigious drum roll -- A Single Man, The Crow, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood..., and Walk the Line. She's helped create iconic characters. To celebrate her career, including this year's A Complete Unknown and Joker: Folie à Deux, The Newport Beach Festival and Fashion Island are honoring her with The Creative Visionary Award.

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

Museum of Modern Art

As the career-spanning Johnnie To retrospective continues, a Samuel L. Jackson series includes Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and Jungle Fever on 35mm.

Bam

A Duras-Akerman double bill plays Sunday.

Film at Lincoln Center

NYFF Revivals continues with films by Robert Bresson, Raymond Depardon, and Clive Barker, Compensation, and more.

Film Forum

A George Stevens retrospective begins; restorations of The Devil, Probably and Lancelot du lac continue; Shane screens on Sunday.

Anthology Film Archives

“Kill Yr Landlords” includes work by John Schlesinger, Hal Ashby, and Nikos Papatakis; films by Dovzhenko and Dreyer play in “Essential Cinema.”

Roxy Cinema

Apocalypse Now: Final Cut plays Friday.

Museum of the Moving Image

A Frank Oz retrospective begins; Burden of Dreams and Fitzcarraldo both screen.

Metrograph

Pulp Fiction, There Will Be Blood, The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice, Lolita, and...

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

Film at Lincoln Center

NYFF Revivals begins with films by Robert Bresson, Marguerite Duras, Clive Barker, and more.

Film Forum

As The Devil, Probably continues in a new restoration, Lancelot du lac starts; Stand By Me screens on Sunday.

Museum of Modern Art

A career-spanning Johnnie To retrospective continues.

Anthology Film Archives

A Robert Beavers retrospective begins.

Roxy Cinema

Gloria plays Friday and Saturday, while prints of Opening Night and Minnie and Moskowitz also screen; Deep Red shows Friday; experimental shorts and City Dudes play on Saturday; Frederick Wiseman’s High School II screens on 16mm this Sunday, while Puzzle of a Downfall Child plays on 35mm.

Bam

Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit continues playing in a 4K restoration; The Long Walk Home screens on Friday.

Museum of the Moving Image

A retrospective of first-person documentaries continues; X: The...

Paris-based Loco Films has boarded “Paying For It,” Canadian helmer Sook-Yin Lee (“Octavio is Dead!”)’s adaptation of Chester Brown’s best-selling graphic novel. The movie is world premiering at Toronto Film Festival in the competitive Platform section.

Co-written by Lee and Joanne Sarazen, the live action movie stars Dan Beirne, emerging actor Emily Lê (“Riceboy Sleeps”), and acclaimed activist, author and performer Andrea Werhun.

The film explores the themes of love, sex and non-monogamy for adults. It’s set in the late 90s and revolves around Chester, an introverted cartoonist who starts sleeping with sex workers and discovers a new kind of intimacy after his girlfriend, Sonny, decides to redefine their committed relationship.

“Paying For It” is produced by Matt Code of Wildling Pictures, whose credits include “See for Me,” “Mary Goes Round” and the upcoming “Young Werther;” as well as Sonya Di Rienzo and Aeschylus Poulos of Hawkeye Pictures...

Neil Patrick Harris and Jane Krakowski have joined the high-profile cast of Robert O’Hara’s upcoming Off Broadway play Shit.Meet.Fan., joining a line-up that includes the previously announced Garret Dillahunt, Billy Magnussen, Debra Messing, Genevieve Hannelius, Tramell Tillman and Constance Wu.

The McC Theater production will begin previews on Thursday October 10, with an opening night set for Monday October 28. The engagement at McC Theater’s Newman Mills Theater runs through Sunday November 17.

Based on the 2016 film Perfect Strangers by Paolo Genovese, Shit. Meet. Fan. unfolds in real time as a group of long-time friends gather to play a game on the night of an eclipse, with each person required to share the contents of their phones – out loud – with the rest of the group. As the synopsis reads, “With the cocktails flowing among grownups who refuse to grow up, outrageous secrets and skeletons begin to emerge… Shit. Meet.

Joel McHale has joined the cast of “Yellowjackets” for Season 3 in a guest star role, Showtime announced Tuesday. It’s not yet known who the “Community” alum will play, but it’s far more likely that he’ll appear in the contemporary storyline with Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey and Tawny Cypress than in the 1996 timeframe.

Male characters on the show have not fared so well, so start laying your bets about the odds of McHale making it to the end of the season.

We’re also not clear if his role will be as meaty as Elijah Wood’s, who was an integral part of Season 2 as Citizen Detective Walter Tattersall, or as fleeting as “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” star John Cameron Mitchell, who appeared in just one hallucinogen-induced scene in a single episode.

Season 3 of the Emmy-nominated Showtime series won’t be released until 2025. Co-creator Ashley Lyle told...

Legendary Television has acquired the rights to the Anna Dorn novel “Perfume & Pain” with Clea DuVall set to write and direct, Variety has learned exclusively.

The book is described as a “a sexy and twisted character drama following a hopelessly romantic and equally reckless sapphic novelist on the verge of superstardom and simultaneously total self-destruction – depending which way the wind blows and what pill she pops next. Astrid will need to write her own deliverance into healing, true love, and success… before she succumbs to the vices that threaten to tear her apart.”

The book was originally published in the U.S. on May 21 by Simon & Schuster. Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler will produce under their Killer Films banner.

Dorn’s other works include “Exalted,” “Bad Lawyer,” and “Vagablonde.” Her next novel, “American Spirits,” is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster. She is repped by Gersh and Sanford J. Greenburger Associates for publishing.

Joaquin Phoenix departed Todd Haynes‘ planned Nc-17 gay romance, and now one of the film’s producers is speaking out.

Christine Vachon of Killer Films shared an article to Facebook about the 49-year-old actor dropping out five days before production, and addressed speculation that his sudden departure had to do with the film’s LGBTQ content.

“A version of this did happen. It has been a nightmare,” she began, via People.

Keep reading to find out more…

“And Please — if you are tempted to finger wag or admonish us that ‘that’s what you get for casting a straight actor’ — Don’T,” she went on to say. “This was His project that he brought to US– and Killer’s record on working with LGBTQ actors/crew/directors speaks for itself. (and for those of you who Have — know that you are making a terrible situation even worse).”

The producer worked...

After Joaquin Phoenix‘s abrupt exit from Todd Haynes‘ gay romance resulted in the film’s unraveling, one of its producers has addressed the fallout.

Christine Vachon of Killer Films shared an article to Facebook about the actor dropping out five days before production, while responding to speculation that Phoenix’s sudden departure had to do with the film’s LGBTQ content and planned Nc-17 rating.

“A version of this did happen. It has been a nightmare,” she started in the post, according to People.

“And Please — if you are tempted to finger wag or admonish us that ‘that’s what you get for casting a straight actor’ — Don’T,” wrote Vachon in part. “This was His project that he brought to US– and Killer’s record on working with LGBTQ actors/crew/directors speaks for itself. (and for those of you who Have — know that you are making a...

Netflix’ Paris Theater, NYC’s longest-running arthouse and Manhattan’s sole single-screen cinema, is marking one year since reopening with the return of screening series Big & Loud.

Special presentations include a new 70mm print of Alfred Hitchock’s Vertigo screening for the first time in New York, new 70mm prints of North By Northwest and The Searchers, as well as 70mm screenings of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Boogie Nights, Hamlet (1996), Inception, Lawrence of Arabia, Malcolm X, Nope, Phantom Thread, Spartacus and The Untouchables.

Netflix reopened the historic theater last year following upgrades to present 70mm projection and make it the largest Atmos cinema in Manhattan. It called Big & Loud “a screening series of eye-popping 70mm prints, thunderous Dolby Atmos and cinema worth celebrating.”

Highlights include Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Days of Heaven, Dazed And Confused, East of Eden (in Atmos), Gravity (in Atmos), The Green Fog (double bill with Vertigo), Koyaanisqatsi,...

Following last year’s very successful “Big & Loud! 70mm, Atmos, and Audio-Obsessive Cinema” screening series, Netflix is launching its latest edition of what is becoming a signature late summer and early fall event at its Paris Theater in New York City. This year’s series will again boast, per the streamer, “eye-popping 70mm prints, thunderous Dolby Atmos, and cinema worth celebrating.”

The series kicks off on Friday, August 23 and will run through Thursday, October 31. Special presentations will include a new 70mm print of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” (screening for the first time in New York), plus new 70mm prints of “North by Northwest” and “The Searchers,” as well as 70mm screenings of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Boogie Nights,” “Hamlet” (1996), “The Hateful Eight,” “Inception,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Malcolm X,” “Nope,” “Phantom Thread,” “Spartacus,” and “The Untouchables.”

Other highlights (and there are many) include “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Days of Heaven,...

Just last month, AMC announced that they had ordered a third season of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire – and that with season 3, the show would be moving on to the events of the second novel in Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series, The Vampire Lestat! In this story, Lestat becomes the frontman in a rock band, something that carries over into the events of the third book, The Queen of the Damned. That’s why those books were mashed together for the 2002 film Queen of the Damned, where Lestat’s singing voice was provided by Jonathan Davis of Korn. If you’ve been curious to hear what Lestat’s singing voice will sound like on the Interview with the Vampire TV series, AMC has you covered: they’ve just released Lestat’s first single, “Long Face,” and you can check it out in the embed above.

Here’s the...

AMCs Interview with the Vampire Season 3 has received its first sneak peek teaser for the next installment of the hit supernatural drama. This comes after nearly a month since the latest season had concluded its 8-episode run.

The video provides fans with a first look at Sam Reids fabulous return as Lestat de Lioncourt in his rockstar era, teasing whats next for the fan-favorite vampire. It also previews Daniel Molloys first meeting with Lestat, who, after interviewing Louis during the first two seasons, will now get the chance to interview Lestat in Season 3. However, this time, instead of writing another book, Daniel will seemingly tell Lestats story through a documentary film format. The sneak peek also includes a snippet of one of Lestats new songs. Reids character was last seen during the Season 2 finale, where he was able to finally reconcile with Louis after several decades.

Related 'One of the...

“Deadpool and Wolverine” is now playing in theaters, and although Hugh Jackman probably won’t receive any major awards nominations for his anticipated return as his comic book character, he has been nominated for an Oscar as well as other major trophies throughout his career. Let’s look back at his many awards races.

After his breakthrough performance as Wolverine in the first “X-Men” film, Jackman spent most of the 2000s appearing in summer action blockbusters like “Swordfish” and “Van Helsing” as well as “X-Men” sequels and a prequel. He was never a serious awards contender for the 2001 romantic comedy “Kate & Leopold,” but he did receive his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The other nominees were Ewan McGregor for “Moulin Rouge!,” John Cameron Mitchell for “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” Billy Bob Thornton for “Bandits” and Gene Hackman for “The Royal Tenenbaums,...

The Drama League Awards unveiled their slate of winners at an in-person ceremony on Friday, May 17. The event was hosted by Frank Dilella at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, where attendees toasted the best of Broadway and Off-Bradway.

The biggest winner of the day was Sarah Paulson, who claimed the coveted Distinguished Performance Award for her fiery role in “Appropriate.” That play, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, also took home the League’s trophy for Best Revival of a Play.

See 2024 Dorian Theater Awards nominations announced: LGBTQ journalists champion ‘Merrily We Roll Along,’ ‘Stereophonic,’ ‘Oh, Mary!‘

The Distinguished Performance Award is unique in that a performer may only win the award once in their career. After prevailing, they are never eligible again. The category is also a massive catch-all race that includes actors of all genders, roles of all sizes, and both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. This year, 54 thespians were included as nominees.

Winning...

Darren Criss will return to Broadway this fall in the new musical Maybe Happy Ending.

The musical features music by Will Aronson, lyrics by Hue Park, a book by Aronson and Park and direction by Michael Arden, who last directed Parade on Broadway. Criss will star opposite Helen J. Shen (The Lonely Few, Teeth) and Dez Duron (NBC’s The Voice), who will both be making their Broadway debuts.

Maybe Happy Ending will start previews at the Belasco Theatre on Sept. 18, ahead of an opening night on Oct. 17, 2024.

The musical follows two lonely robots in Seoul (Criss and Shen), who have a chance encounter that charts a path for friendship and maybe more.

Maybe Happy Ending was written in both Korean and English. The Korean-language version opened in December 2016 at DaeMyung Culture Factory in Seoul, while the English-language version had its U.S. premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta...

Darren Criss has played queer roles over the years and is now explaining why he says he’s “culturally gay.”

One of the actor’s most remembered roles is Blaine Anderson from Glee, and during an appearance at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, he was asked about the impact of his character and the on-screen relationship with Chris Colfer’s Kurt.

“F***ing awesome,” Criss said about portraying the gay character. “It was a narrative that I cared deeply about.”

Criss identifies as a straight, cisgender male and attributes his understanding of the LGBTQ+ community to his upbringing in San Francisco, California.

“I have been so culturally queer my whole life,” he said. “Not because I’m trying, you know, actually, I was gonna say, not because I’m trying to be cool, but I’m gonna erase that, because I am trying to be cool. The things in my...

When the 77th Tony Awards nominations are announced this morning, those honored with recognition will have been selected by a small group of theatre professionals who commit to seeing each and every eligible production that opened during the 2023-2024 season. They are thus able to make informed decisions on what shows, performers and creatives should earn the spotlight of New York theatre’s top honor.

This past season, 60 theatre professionals saw all 36 eligible musicals, play, and revivals and will select the nominees in 26 competitive categories.

Below, see a complete list of the 2023-2024 Tony Awards nominating committee members, including their professions plus past Tony nominations and wins. Some of these nominators may have to recuse themselves prior to voting if they have a conflict, such as if a production that they worked is eligible for a nomination this year.

Watch 2024 Tony Awards nominations slugfest: Final predictions in 17 competitive categories

Warren Adams,...

If Criterion24/7 hasn’t completely colonized your attention every time you open the Channel––this is to say: if you’re stronger than me––their May lineup may be of interest. First and foremost I’m happy to see a Michael Roemer triple-feature: his superlative Nothing But a Man, arriving in a Criterion Edition, and the recently rediscovered The Plot Against Harry and Vengeance is Mine, three distinct features that suggest a long-lost voice of American movies. Meanwhile, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Antiwar Trilogy four by Sara Driver, and a wide collection from Ayoka Chenzira fill out the auteurist sets.

Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...

The People's Joker.In The People’s Joker (2022), Vera Drew makes her feverish entrance into the cluttered morass of the DC Comics cinematic multiverse by bursting through a trapdoor. Having garnered recognition as an Emmy-nominated television editor for outré comedians such as Tim Heidecker, Eric André, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Tim Robinson, Drew serves as director, co-writer, editor, lead actress, and cosmic prankster for her cinematic debut. The anarchic DIY spectacle, recently released theatrically after two years in intellectual-property limbo, mines the contradictory supervillain mythologies of the Joker to narrate Drew’s journey of self-discovery as a trans woman in the fractious world of alternative comedy. After Warner Bros. sent a cryptic letter of disapproval regarding the film’s flagrant recontextualization of the Batman franchise a day before its debut at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, it was pulled from the program. Drew and her battalion of masked vigilantes have commandeered...

Exclusive: Mark Tallman (First Wives Club, Law & Order: Svu), Hoon Lee and Tony winner and Grammy nominee Lena Hall (Snowpiercer, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) are set as series regulars opposite Jon Hamm in Your Friends and Neighbors, Apple TV+’s upcoming drama series from Warrior creator Jonathan Tropper and Apple Studios.

Greg Yaitanes, Stephanie Laing/Courtesy

Craig Gillespie (Physical) is set to direct the first two episodes and executive produce. Additionally, Emmy winners Greg Yaitanes (Presumed Innocent, House of the Dragon) and Stephanie Laing (Palm Royale, Physical) are set to direct three episodes each. The project reunites Lee and Tropper who worked together on Max’s Warrior.

Based on an original idea by Tropper, Your Friends and Neighbors stars Hamm as Coop, a recently divorced hedge fund manager who, after being fired, resorts to stealing from the wealthy residents in his tony upstate New...

Zackary Drucker will direct the upcoming biopic about Andy Warhol superstar Candy Darling starring Hari Nef. John Cameron Mitchell also joins the untitled film about the transgender icon as executive producer.

It was previously announced that Nef (“Barbie”) will star in the movie.

The film traces Darling’s childhood in Long Island through her years alongside underground icons Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis in Warhol’s Factory scene, and her influence on musicians including Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground and Patti Smith. She was immortalized in popular songs including Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” and The Velvet Underground’s “Candy Says.”

Darling also starred in Warhol’s cult film “Women In Revolt” before she died of leukemia in 1974 at age 29.

“I’ve dedicated my life and career to amplifying the history of trans and queer icons, and their impact in shaping art and culture for everyone,” Drucker said in a statement.

Daily Dead is proud to return as one of the sponsors for this year's Overlook Film Festival, taking place April 4th–7th in New Orleans, and following their impressive initial lineup announcement earlier this month, Overlook has now announced their full schedule for their 2024 edition that includes additional films, in-person guests, immersive programming, and free horror trivia that is once again presented by Daily Dead!

We have the official press release with additional details below, and be sure to visit Overlook Film Festival's official website for more information!

Press Release: March 20, 2024 | New Orleans, LA – The Overlook Film Festival, the annual celebration of all things horror, announced today the full schedule for its 2024 edition, including some surprise new additions and special guests. Taking place April 4 – April 7 in America’s most haunted city, New Orleans, Louisiana at the Prytania Theatres, the horror festival announced seven additional films to its lineup, as well as new immersive events,...

Jerry Foley, who served as director of “The Late Show with David Letterman” from 1995 until the end of its run — died March 10 at the Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. A family friend said he died following a ski accident in Vermont. He was 68.

Foley, who was the brother of director James Foley, directed nearly 4,000 hours of late-night television, including all 72 episodes of “Live on Letterman,” episodes of “The View,” and Broadway segments for “Good Morning America.” He also produced and directed the “America Salutes You” benefit concert.

The DGA remembered him on X, writing “His exceptional directing earned him 9 DGA Award noms & 24 Emmy nods.”

The Guild mourns the passing of Director Jerry Foley, whose 25 years on Late Show w/ David Letterman produced nearly 4,000 hours of iconic late-night TV. His exceptional directing earned him 9 DGA Award noms & 24 Emmy nods. Learn more about Foley here: https://t.co/D6JLu8cWMN pic.

An invitation-only industry presentation of You Hateful Things, a new play by Will Arbery directed by Simon Stone, will be held this week in New York, with a cast including Christian Slater, Amandla Stenberg, Jakeem Powell, John Cameron Mitchell, Lucas Hedges and Myha’la.

The play’s synopsis: “In You Hateful Things, Dad keeps all of his weirdness in a big box, and today we’re opening it.”

In addition to their film careers, Slater has appeared on Broadway six times, most recently in 2005’s The Glass Menagerie; Hedges starred in 2018’s The Waverly Gallery; and Mitchell created and starred in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Powell is best known for his performance in Harris’ Slave Play, while Myha’la

recently appeared in Leave the World Behind and Amandla Stenberg’s appeared in Bodies Bodies Bodies.

The industry presentation will be directed by Simon Stone.

It isn’t every day you encounter a pop-disco musical about a buoyant aspiring circus performer and a brooding aspiring rock singer with competing Mommy issues falling in love in Mexico City against the electricized rearrangements of the Indigo Girls. And that’s not exactly lamentable, because I wouldn’t categorize English-language Glitter & Doom as necessarily essential cinema … though I also couldn’t accuse it of being anything other than original either. (Well, except for the foundational premise of opposites attracting and then ultimately clashing over dueling artistic ambitions.) Director Tom Gustafson (Were the World Mine) has crafted a sweet if plodding love story but it’s hard to truly hate on this whirling candy-colored poetic fairytale — it’s just too sincere, much like the musical source material.

It is perhaps somewhat unexpected that the oeuvre of a folk duo led by two down-to-earth platonic queer women (considered to...

The champagne may be flowing at the kickoff for the 27th Annual Sonoma International Film Festival – for more reasons than one.

This year’s event in California’s wine country will open with the U.S. premiere of Widow Clicquot, directed by Thomas Napper, a narrative feature about the Grande Dame of Champagne. Actress Haley Bennett stars in the titular role of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, “who against all odds advanced her late husband’s techniques to create the recipe for modern-day champagne.”

Siff, running from March 20-24, will showcase 43 narrative features, 16 documentary features, and 48 short films representing more than 25 countries, according to a release.

Maya Hawke in ‘Wildcat’

The festival’s Centerpiece Film is Wildcat, directed by Ethan Hawke and starring his daughter Maya Hawke as renowned Southern Gothic author Flannery O’Connor. The Closing Night Film is Luc Besson’s crime drama Dogman, starring Caleb Landry Jones. A Closing Night...

In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with filmmaker and Head Of Development at Federgreen Entertainment Reese Eveneshen and “3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life”, which include:

The Terminator (1984) Day Of The Dead (1985) Hedwig And The Angry Inch (2001)

“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.

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The format of a TV show provides opportunities that the Harry Potter movies didn't have. John Williams' music is an iconic element of Harry Potter that needs to be preserved in the TV show. Other franchises like Spider-Man and James Bond have successfully reused their iconic music in reboots, and the Harry Potter TV show should do the same.

The Harry Potter TV show will likely explore different avenues to separate itself from the movies, but there's a certain element that needs to remain unchanged. The format of a TV show allows for various opportunities that the original movies missed out on when adapting every Harry Potter book. ​​​While the coming reboot should distance itself from the famous film series led by Daniel Radcliffe, keeping one specific element intact will be unavoidable when the story is once more reimagined.

The original Harry Potter cast will likely be forever synonymous with...

It’s early afternoon on a Friday when Darren Criss and Evan Rachel Wood pick up the phone, just five days before they are set to debut as the new Seymour and Audrey in off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors.

Both are on their way to the Westside Theatre stage for their first top-to-bottom run-through, taking over the complicated but beloved characters based on Roger Corman’s 1960 horror comedy and deftly adapted for the stage by theater legends Howard Ashman (book and lyrics) and Alan Menken (music).

Now in the fifth year of the U.S. revival of the dark goings-on of a Skid Row flower shop, several notable names have left their mark on the show: Jonathan Groff, Jeremy Jordan, Conrad Ricamora, Corbin Bleu, Constance Wu, Maude Apatow, Tammy Blanchard and Lena Hall. But none quite like this, as an intentional leap together among friends.

As the interview begins,...

The only daughter in the family, with eight brothers, Leila (Layla Mohammadi) is used to being spoiled. She’s also used to her mother Shireen (Niousha Noor) being overprotective and trying to change the way she lives, but much as she likes to complain about this, she’s never really asked itself why it’s the case. Growing up as part of an immigrant Persian community in Brooklyn, she’s taken a lot of things for granted. It takes a pair of unexpected events to prompt her to examine their relationship more deeply, and to become curious about the life her parents left behind.

The first of these is a crisis of her own making. Attending a fancy dress party as ‘Miss Burkatini’, in a swimsuit and hijab with a surfboard under her arm, she meets Max (Tom Byrne), whom she takes for a drag queen. He tries to explain...

One of the most exciting new animated series this year is Hazbin Hotel, a Prime Video series from Vivienne Medrano that tells the surreal tale of Charlie Morningstar (voiced by Erika Henningsen), the princess of Hell, who tires of an annual purge whereby angels descend from Heaven to smite demons, and, along with her girlfriend Vaggie (Stephanie Beatriz), creates the Hazbin Hotel — a rehab clinic of sorts for those in Hell so that they can gain entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Medrano’s series is bolstered by several fantastical...

With the Screen-to-Stage-back to Screen adaptation of Mean Girls landing in first place this weekend, we wanted to know what film based on a play has been your favorite? Are Oscar winning musicals such as Chicago or Amadeus your favorite? Maybe the classics like Grease or Little Shop of Horrors are more your speed? Or perhaps a nice court room drama such as A Few Good Men ranks number one for you? If you don’t see your favorite listed click the “Other” button and let us know what your favorite is in the comments.

Favorite Stage-to-Screen AdaptationCasablanca (1943)West Side Story (1961)My Fair Lady (1964)The Sound of Music (1965)A Man For All Seasons (1966)Oliver! (1968)Amadeus (1984)Driving Miss Daisy (1989)Chicago (2002)Alfie (1966)American Buffalo (1996)Annie (1982)Annie Get Your Gun (1950)A Bronx Tale (1993)Bug (2007)Cabaret (1972)Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)Children of a Lesser God (1986)Closer (2004)The Crucible (1996)Cyrano (2021)Dear Evan Hansen...

Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper are reuniting for a new spy flick titled Best of Enemies, based on a 2018 book. The movie will feature Cooper as CIA agent Jack Platt and Bale as Kgb agent Gennady Vasilenko during the Cold War. While the director is yet to be announced, Cooper may helm the film following the success of A Star is Born and Maestro.

Academy Award winner Christian Bale will reunite with his American Hustle co-star, Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper, for a new spy flick. Amazon Studios and MGM Studios won the rights to the project, which is titled Best of Enemies, with Amazon reportedly beating “eight bidders,” including Warner Bros. Pictures, and plan to release the movie theatrically.

A report by Deadline reveals that Best of Enemies will be based on the 2018 book Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War by Eric Dezenhall...

Bradley Cooper leads the way in all aspects of the upcoming biographical drama Maestro, directing, writing, and starring as American composer Leonard Bernstein. The film explores the complex and enduring relationship between Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre. Maestro features a star-studded cast including Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, and Sarah Silverman, and is backed by renowned producers Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Todd Phillips.

The latest trailer for Netflix’s upcoming biographical drama, Maestro, further teases director Bradley Cooper’s towering and fearless love story which chronicles the lifelong relationship between cultural icon Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Released courtesy of Netflix, you can check out the new trailer for Maestro below.

Maestro has been met with rave reviews following its debut at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, with MovieWeb’s own Julian Roman heaping praise on the film, and particularly the central performances from...

This story about Christine Vachon first appeared in the College Issue of TheWrap’s magazine.

Over the course of more than 30 years and 100 films, Christine Vachon has become one of the most impactful producers of independent film — and as the artistic director of the Mfa program at Stony Brook Manhattan, one of the most intriguing film educators as well. She founded her company, Killer Films, with fellow New York-based producer Pamela Koffler in 1996, five years into a career that had begun with Todd Haynes’ feature debut, “Poison,” and would go on to include every one of Haynes’ movies, among them “Velvet Goldmine,” “Far From Heaven,” “Carol” and the upcoming “May December.”

Vachon’s other films include Larry Clark’s “Kids,” Todd Solondz’s “Happiness,” John Cameron Mitchell’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” Kimberly Peirce’s “Boys Don’t Cry” and Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed.” She’s known for working with young and first-time directors,...

“The Persian Version,” in line with “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Moonstruck,” sets out to capture the conflicting cultures of being a first-generation American, especially through the perspective of a coming-of-age story. And while the Sundance Award-winning film has a certain early 2000s charm to it, it tries to do too much too fast in terms of educating audiences about Iranian politics through the personal history of rising matriarch (yet current angsty outsider) Leila (Layla Mohammadi).

The “sort of” true story opens with Leila donning a burqa over a bikini (a “burq-ini”), hooking up with a “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” Broadway performer (Tom Byrne), and breaking the fourth wall to explain just how complicated her life as a queer Iranian-American woman is. It’s the kind of “Fleabag” commentary that feels too trendy and too convenient for a film with this amount of tonal shifts, zinging between Leila...

"The Persian Version" tells the story of a mother and daughter, celebrating Iranian-American culture and exploring familial dysfunction through fresh eyes. The movie's fearless narrator, Layla Mohammadi, brings a buoyant energy to the story, despite the fractured bonds between her and her Iranian immigrant parents. The strength of the film lies in its empowering portrayal of three generations of Iranian women, although some may find that the growth of the daughter's character feels truncated compared to her mother's.

Filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz dips a toe into her own history in The Persian Version, which is finally seeing a limited theatrical release after its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It won the Audience Award for the US Dramatic Competition there, and for good reason. The movie weaves a mother and daughter's parallel narratives together with ease, celebrating Iranian-American culture through fresh eyes and exploring familial dysfunction from a place of love.

A rebellious Iranian-American woman clashes with her strict and unforgiving mother but comes to understand they are very much alike. The Persian Version, winner of the Audience and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival, uses fantasy elements and highly stylized filmmaking techniques to tell a powerful narrative. It is a clash of culture, values, and identity for immigrants trying to find their place in two vastly different countries over several decades. The bells and whistles gimmicks, meant to add a humorous element, grows somewhat tedious. The message delivered does not. Sacrifice and hardships don't last but love and compassion always do.

In present day New York City, Leila Jamshidpour (Layla Mohammadi) bedazzles a burka's headdress with sequins. She then dons a skimpy bikini, grabs a surfboard, and stridently walks to a costume party as jaws drop around her. Punk music blares as the revelers congratulate her on a bold look.