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Burt Lancaster was a breathtakingly beautiful man with the build of an athlete and, as an actor, a nose for top-notch material that he could perfectly serve if not elevate (he has nine perfect movies according to Rotten Tomatoes). He was one of the most beloved movie stars of his generation, and he was deeply mourned when he passed away in 1994. though his death wasn't sudden. He hadn't appeared in a film since 1989's "Field of Dreams," which wound up being a lovely little swan song for the kid from East Harlem. It's just that he was Burt Lancaster, and we couldn't imagine a world without a dashingly determined person like him in it.

Lancaster's "Field of Dreams" co-star Kevin Costner was quite taken with the leading man when they shot their two scenes together. How could he not be? He'd grown up watching the man swashbuckle and soldier and seduce.

Throughout the 1970s, audiences couldn’t get enough of disaster movies. The decade began with the all-star blockbuster bomb-on-a-plane thrill ride Airport, based on Arthur Hailey’s best-seller. Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Maureen Stapleton, Van Heflin, Jean Seberg, and Jacqueline Bisset headlined Airport, which became the second-biggest box-office hit of the year and earned nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and winning Best Supporting Actress for Hayes. Airport also established the template for subsequent movies: trapping all-star casts on a plane, a ship, or a high-rise.

SEEFred Astaire movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best

Producer-director-writer Irwin Allen took disaster movies to the next level — so much so he was dubbed “The Master of Disaster.” Allen, who enjoyed great success on the small screen in the 1960s with the series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Lost in Space, brought his disaster savvy to the...

When Kirk Douglas died in 2020 at the age of 103 (!), he left behind a massive legacy of over 90 films that even the most stalwart cineastes haven't been able to work their way through. Known for his affable smile and intense performances, Douglas is one of Hollywood's most famous leading men, and was the industry's most profitable actor throughout the 1950s. He was also a producing powerhouse, having started his own production company, Bryna Productions, which handled some of his best-known films. Bryna backed the Stanley Kubrick movies "Paths of Glory" and "Spartacus," as well as "The Vikings," "Seconds," "Seven Days in May," and, later on, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Douglas never lost sight of the evolving nature of film, rarely resting on trends or genres. 

In 1962, Bryna also backed a neo-Western called "Lonely Are the Brave." Set in the present day, "Brave" stars Douglas as a Korean War veteran...

"From Here to Eternity" is the 1953 Oscar winning feature, directed by Fred Zinnemann, based on the 1951 novel by James Jones, following three US Army soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra, stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack on 'Pearl Harbor', December 7, 1941, with the film selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant":

"...in Hawaii in the months preceding the Japanese attack on 'Pearl Harbor', 'Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt' (Clift) reports for his new assignment as an infantryman. At his previous Post, Prewitt was a bugler and his unit's top boxer. But after a man died in the ring, Prewitt wants nothing to do with the sport.

"Trouble is, his new company commander, 'Captain Dana Holmes' (Philip Ober) has a championship boxing team and Prewitt's refusal to...

Burt Lancaster could be just about anything you needed him to be — except small. He was not towering at 6'1", but he sure made it look that way on screen. Whether smiling or glowering, good natured or pure evil, there was a formidable bearing to Lancaster. But he did not lumber. God no, he was as graceful as a circus acrobat because, well, he was one. How dare a man so sturdy be so damn limber. And golden. And beautiful.

Lancaster's acting career was as remarkable as his absurdly perfect physicality. He made his motion picture debut in a stone-cold classic, and was one of the most popular movie stars on the planet for well over a decade. Lancaster worked too frequently to not slip up on occasion, but he generally exhibited great taste, particularly as a producer. His partnership with Harold Hecht (and later James Hill) yielded three Best...

The Screen Actors Guild has been presenting its annual life achievement award for many decades. The most recent recipient for 2025 was double Oscar winner Jane Fonda.

For the 2023 event, Sally Field was the latest veteran performer to receive the Screen Actor’s Guild life achievement award. Starting in 1995, audiences around the world have been able to enjoy this celebration of a beloved thespian’s work, crammed right in the middle of a nail-biting awards telecast. In honor of De Niro’s accomplishment, let’s take a look back at every person to be given this prize since the event was first televised. Our gallery includes Helen Mirren, Robert De Niro, Alan Alda, Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Betty White, Shirley Temple, Barbra Streisand, and more.

SAG began handing out a career achievement prize to actors who left their mark on both the big screen and small in 1962. It wasn...

Earl Holliman, the Golden Globe-winning star of “The Rainmaker,” has died at the age of 96, according to media reports.

Holliman starred in the 1956 adaptation of the N. Richard Nash play about a spinsterish woman named Lizzie Curry, played by Katharine Hepburn, who falls in love with a con man played by Burt Lancaster who promises to bring rain to her family’s drought-stricken farm. Holliman played Jim, one of Lizzie’s brothers.

That same year, Holliman also appeared in “Forbidden Planet,” one of the earliest sci-fi film classics. Holliman, who was the last living member of the film’s cast, played the cook on the starship C-57D who humorously bonds with robot Robby when he asks the android where he can find some bourbon.

Holliman’s other big claim to fame is his starring role in “Where Is Everybody?” the very first episode of the legendary sci-fi TV series,...

Earl Holliman, an actor whose scores of credits spanning a half-century ranged from 1950s films Forbidden Planet and Giant to Police Woman and others popular ’70s and ’80s TV dramas and starred in the first episode of The Twilight Zone, died Monday in Los Angeles after a short illness. He was 96.

His niece, Theresa Mullins Harris, announced the news on social media, writing in part: “His dream at 5 years old of becoming a movie star came true, more than he ever could have imagined.”

Holliman got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame won a Supporting Actor Golden Globe for 1957’s The Rainmaker and was nominated for the short-lived early-’90s ABC sitcom Delta, starring Delta Burke. He was a series regular on the latter, playing the understanding owner of a bar where aspiring country singer Delta Bishop (Burke) worked while trying to make it.

Born on September 11, 1928, Holliman...

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Netflix has the biggest content library of any streaming service, and for that reason, many movies from the past are available on it. So, we thought about all the fans of old brilliant movies that are now characterized as classics and decided to compile a list of the best classic movies on Netflix that you should check out right now.

Scarface Credit – Universal Pictures

Scarface is a crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay by Oliver Stone. Based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail and its 1932 film adaptation, the 1983 film follows Tony Montana and his close friend Manny, who build a ruthless and successful drug empire in Miami. However as Tony’s power grows so do his enemies, but the biggest threat to his empire is his own paranoia. Scarface stars Al Pacino,...

Richard D. James, the Emmy-winning production designer who worked on all but one of the 14 seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager, has died. He was 88.

James died Nov. 11 of complications from an infection at Ut Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, his longtime friend Tom Sanden told The Hollywood Reporter.

For the big screen, the Texas native was art director on Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero (1983), starring Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert; on Mike Nichols’ Silkwood (1983), starring Meryl Streep, Cher and Kurt Russell; and on Kevin Reynolds’ The Beast of War, starring George Dzundza, Jason Patric and Steven Bauer.

James joined the syndicated Next Generation for its second season (1988-89) and remained through its conclusion in 1994. He then segued to Upn’s Voyager, working on that series for its entire seven-season run (1995-2001).

James received his Emmy (shared with longtime collaborator Jim Mees) in 1990 for his...

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You don't often see the great movies coming. Sure, some classics swagger their way into theaters (like "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" did in 2023), but take a look at the vast majority of the movies on your favorites queue and you'll see titles that arrived with very little fanfare. Warner Bros. didn't expect "L.A. Confidential" to take off like it did, and Columbia Pictures was absolutely stunned when "The Shawshank Redemption" rebounded after a disappointing theatrical release to become one of the most beloved motion pictures in the history of the medium.

Then there's Universal and "Field of Dreams." Kevin Costner was a movie star in 1989 on the strength of "The Untouchables," "No Way Out" and "Bull Durham," but two of those three hits were adult-skewing entertainments that traded heavily on his sex appeal. "Field of Dreams" was ... really, what in...

"Uncle, if we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change." Netflix has revealed the teaser trailer for The Leopard series, their new adaptation of this classic Italian novel. "A great story is timeless." The Leopard, also known as Il Gattopardo, written by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, was adapted once before into the acclaimed 1963 film also titled The Leopard starring Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily. The series will be a modern exploration of timeless themes – power, love, and the cost of progress. The teaser features Kim Rossi Stuart as the Prince of Salina, who is starring along with Benedetta Porcaroli, Deva Cassel, and Saul Nanni alongside Paolo Calabresi, Francesco Colella, Astrid Meloni, and Greta Esposito. It starkly contrasts the order and...

As you’ve probably heard by now, Donald Trump has been spending the final weeks of his campaign cosplaying as people who actually work for a living. First it was a visit to McDonald’s, and then yesterday, he decided to put on a reflective vest and ride around in the passenger’s seat of a garbage truck as it slowly circled an airport tarmac next to Trump’s private plane. You know, typical garbage collector stuff.

He followed it up by appearing at a rally while still wearing the vest. Why? Because a staff member told him it made him “look thinner.”

The ridiculous stunt was Trump’s way of trolling Joe Biden for referring to his followers as “garbage,” in response to Tony Hinchcliffe’s recent Trump rally stand-up set. If it seemed so goofy that it could have been the plot of a sitcom, that’s possibly because...

Burt Lancaster was an Oscar-winning actor who appeared in dozens of movies until his death in 1994. But which titles are among his finest? Let’s take a look back at 20 of Lancaster’s greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1913, Lancaster got into acting after performing as an acrobat in the circus. He made his movie debut in 1946 with a leading role in the quintessential noir thriller “The Killers” (1946). He earned his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor for Fred Zinnemann‘s wartime drama “From Here to Eternity” (1953), winning the prize just seven years later for playing a fast-talking preacher in “Elmer Gantry” (1960). Lancaster would compete twice more in the category (“Birdman of Alcatraz” in 1962 and “Atlantic City” in 1981).

In the 1950s, the actor decided to chart his own career by forming the production company Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, which churned out a number of successful titles including the Best Picture-winning “Marty...

So, you've survived the experience of watching the Safdie Brothers' anxiety-inducing gambling thriller "Uncut Gems" without your heart exploding, eh? Admittedly, very few movies can match that film's high-strung sense of mania and tension, but if you're looking for a classic Hollywood flick that operates in a somewhat similar but lower key pitch, we have a recommendation. 

Alexander Mackendrick's "Sweet Smell of Success," a noir drama from 1957, stars the great Burt Lancaster as a powerful New York City gossip columnist whose daily articles are so powerful, they can make or break careers. Tony Curtis ("Some Like It Hot," "The Defiant Ones") plays a low-level press agent striving to graduate from being disrespected to become a big shot, and the story explores the lengths the agent will go -- and the lives he may ruin -- in order to please the writer so he can finally achieve the success he desires.

With a library featuring South Korean coolness, Chinese gothic horror, Kung Fu westerns, and more, it’s packed with projects that don’t often make it to mainstream platforms.

If you find yourself bored of “mainstream” cinema and looking for something a little more… weird, the streaming service Midnight Pulp could be worth checking out. With an eclectic library featuring South Korean coolness, Chinese gothic horror, Super 8mm horror comedy, Kung Fu westerns, vintage erotica, and more, it’s packed with projects that don’t often make it to mainstream platforms. As such, Midnight Pulp brands itself as the go-to streaming service for “all things strange.” Keep reading to see if Midnight Pulp is worth adding to your streaming line-up.

7-Day Free Trial $4.99+ / month via amazon.com Everything You Need to Know About Midnight Pulp:

What Is Midnight Pulp?

How Much Does Midnight Pulp Cost?

What Hit Movies Can You Watch on Midnight Pulp?...

THR reports that Chad Stahelski is producing The Professionals. When I read the title, I initially thought this might be a remake of the 1966 Western starring Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin, but no. The project is said to be a cross between John Wick and Clue. I can get down with that.

The film follows “a group of contract killers stranded in an English countryside estate when one of them is murdered and the remaining group has to solve the death.” Stahelski will produce alongside Alex Young and Jason Spitz, his partners at 87Eleven, as well as Jason Michael Berman and Jordan Moldo of Mandalay Pictures. Hunter Perot, grandson of the late Ross Perot, wrote the initial draft of the screenplay. Madison Turner, a stuntman-turned-writer and son of longtime stunt performer Tierre Turner, is now tackling the script.

Related Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net: Bryan Carey

Chad...

It looks like business as usual at Brentwood’s Country Mart.

Laptops and lattes sit on every table at Caffe Luxxe’s patio. Around the corner, a woman corrals two teens near luxury décor shop Hudson Grace. “Let’s go to Goop real quick,” she declares loudly in directing them toward a pitstop at Gwyneth Paltrow’s curated store. The pastry counter at Farmshop has a queue four deep, though the lunch rush is winding down. One wouldn’t be surprised to see Country Mart regulars like Larry David or Jennifer Garner on a quiet, sunny Wednesday afternoon like this.

The quietude of the scene belies the tumult that occurred here just days before. A few feet from Diesel Bookstore’s entrance, this reporter is scanning a window display when a Diesel staffer approaches from a courtyard nearby. “Can I help you?” he asks. Forgive the direct approach, he adds,...

It is a deceptively simple premise for a two-hour feature film. A married couple who had planned their retirement in a B&b are, due to dire financial circumstances and bum luck, forced out of their home at a point that is, on the surface at least, completely devastating. With their kids now off at school, they make the decision to pack up what they can in their backpacks and take off on the Salt Path, a 630-mile stretch from Dorset to Somerset on the Southwestern English Coast. To make matters worse, the husband has just been diagnosed with a terminal neurodegenerative disease, but they are bound and determined to complete this adventure, perhaps the last of their lives because they have no other choice.

Oh, and it is a 100% true story.

Exquisitely directed by four-time Tony Award winner Marianne Elliott with a screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (She Said) based on Raynor Winn’s 2018 memoir, The Salt Path is an inspiring story of love and resilience in a situation that might otherwise break most people, especially a couple entering their later years with little hope against an unforgiving system. This is certainly not the first film based on someone setting out on an ambitious walk for various personal reasons. Martin Sheen starred as a man tackling El Camino de Santiago trail in 2010’s spiritual The Way; Reese Witherspoon played the depressed Cheryl Strayed in Wild, the 2014 true story of her 1100-mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail; and Mark Wahlberg starred in another true story, 2020’s Joe Bell, about a father who walks across America in protest of the bullying of his son.

All of these films, and other similar stories of determination against all odds, were admirable attempts but not always successful movies as sometimes dramatizing the journey can be a little repetitive. Where Elliott succeeds with a fine Lenkiewicz template, is getting us instantly engaged in the travails of Ray (Gillian Anderson) and Moth (Jason Isaacs), a couple who could be you or me as life hits them hard in the gut and the Salt Path becomes somehow a cure, a spiritual redemption however temporary, to set them on a new path (literally and figuratively) in life. Is it an adventure? Is it insanity or an existential mid-life crisis? In some ways, it is reminiscent of the premise of John Cheever’s The Swimmer and its film adaptation, in which Burt Lancaster swam from one neighbor’s pool to another, encountering various people along the way. But moreover, it is the tale of these two born to come together to experience life together, no matter how hard that gets.

After unreasonably being evicted from their B&b, having their bank account dried up due to legal expenses and losing their farm, this likable couple decides to fullfil a dream and live off the land as it were by embarking with just chump change on an ambitious walk covering 630 breathtaking miles, even as Moth has had a pretty devastating diagnosis. This might stop most people in their tracks, but in this case only sets this couple off in theirs.

The story from this point on becomes episodic as they make their way, stopping at various points and towns, interacting with the locals and relatives, bleeding an Atm dry just for enough to get food, and even for Ray getting a job shearing sheep. Nothing hugely life-threatening happens along the way, no sudden tidal wave or earthquakes, none of the usual movie tropes, but rather a love story of two people making the most of where life has brought them to this point. Of course to make this work, you need actors of the extraordinary grace and talent of Anderson and Isaacs who are entirely believable as this pair staring down nature as an antidote to the cards life has dealt. Both are excellent in essentially a two-hander, although they get support along the way from various people they meet or stay with.

With Helene Louvart’s excellent cinematography a real plus, The Salt Path is a cinematic journey worth taking. It had its world premiere Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival. Producers are Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Lloyd Levin and Beatriz Levin.

Title: The Salt Path

Festival: Toronto

Director: Marianne Elliott

Screenwriter: Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Cast: Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs, James Lance, Hermione Norris, Megan Placito

Sales agents: Rocket Science, Black Bear

Running time: 1 hr 55 min...

Clint Eastwood may not hold the youthful charm he once did in the 1950s or be the leading star of Spaghetti Westerns, but the Eastwood name can never be replaced as long as Hollywood stands. The movie star and cowboy actor of the century transitioned perfectly from the old talkies to the 21st-century Oscar-winner Million Dollar Baby without breaking a sweat.

Clint Eastwood in the Dollars Trilogy [Credit: United Artists]

Meanwhile, the industry stepping out of its Western fixation failed to outgrow and catch up to the rapidly transforming world outside. Their inability to adapt to the changing times and customs posed a huge red flag for the industry, marking the end of an era. Gone were the days of simplicity when all that the audience was curious about was if Frank Sinatra really had connections with the mob. The 1970s were all about the neo-noir classics and action thrillers.

Frank...

Is that the smell of cigarette smoke filling the room? Did a thick layer of fog just descend on the city skyline? Has your inner voice started monologuing more than usual and with an air of suspicion? That’s right folks, Noir City Film Festival at Detroit’s Redford Theatre is set to return this month for it’s seventh annual showcase of murder, intrigue, trenched coats, and brimmed hats. As with every year, the festivities will be hosted by Eddie Muller of Turner Classic Movies‘ “Noir Alley” and will feature an international theme this year with foreign selections, as well as Hollywood films directed by non-American filmmakers like Otto Preminger and Hugo Fregonese.

2024’s Noir City: Detroit begins on Friday, September 20 with a double feature of “Victims of Sin” (1951) and “Night Editor” (1946). Directed by Emilio Fernández, one of the most prolific filmmakers from Mexican cinema’s Golden Age during the ’40s and ’50s,...

If there’s one actor who can dish out divine advice, it’s Morgan Freeman. After all, the Hollywood legend has played God himself—twice. But what’s his secret to playing the ultimate omnipotent being? In true Freeman fashion, he keeps it refreshingly practical. Whether you’re stepping into the shoes of God or another legendary figure, Freeman has a simple yet profound tip.

Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd in The Shawshank Redemption | Castle Rock Entertainment

His wise, down-to-earth approach is something only the voice of God could deliver. Curious to hear more? Well, let Freeman’s wisdom guide you to Hollywood’s heavenly heights.

Morgan Freeman’s Divine Acting Tip: Stick to the Script Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman in a still from Bruce Almighty | Spyglass Entertainment

“Divine is not that hard to play,” says Morgan Freeman, and honestly, who’s going to argue with God? The iconic actor,...

Why does Morgan Freeman, our beloved cinematic sage, sport those iconic gold hoop earrings? While some might think it’s merely a quirky fashion choice, there’s a fascinating, slightly morbid reason behind them that leaves us both admiring & chuckling in the same breath.

Morgan Freeman in Hard Rain | Credit: Paramount Pictures

As the man who’s delivered breathtaking performances in Glory, Se7en, Unforgiven, and The Dark Knight trilogy, Freeman has clearly ascended to the pinnacle of A-list stardom. But back to the gold hoops—these aren’t just bling for the bling’s sake. Freeman revealed in a 2019 Instagram post that these gleaming accessories are worth just enough for someone “to buy me a coffin if I die in a strange place”.

Just like the brave sailors and roguish pirates of yesteryear, Freeman’s got his bases covered, ensuring he can rest in peace wherever his life adventures might lead him.

Carol Kane probably deserves her own closet filled with classic films she’s been a part of, from “Dog Day Afternoon” to “The Princess Bride,” but for now, the Criterion Closet will have to do. In Criterion’s latest closet video, Kane reflects on influences like Bette Davis, as well as past collaborators like John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, who she describes as a “queen and a goddess.”

“I’m Carol Kane, I’m an ac-tor, and I am so moved to be in this room — this closet — with all these extraordinary films, movies — I don’t know what you’re supposed to call them — but all the creativity. It’s breaking my heart in a good way,” said Kane at the beginning of the video.

As her first pick off the shelf, Kane grabbed “All About Eve” and discussed the effect the lead of the film, Bette Davis, had...

Cinema isn’t a beauty contest, but if it were, Alain Delon surely would have won the title of the 1960s’ most handsome actor.

That’s a subjective call, of course, and as such, Delon is the kind of figure about whom writers tend to fall back on the word “arguably” — as in, “arguably the most handsome” — which is kind of a cop-out, as it leaves the argument to somebody else. When it comes to Delon, plenty have made the case. I loved Anthony Lane’s longform analysis of Delon’s allure in The New Yorker earlier this year. And none other than Jane Fonda, who co-starred with Delon in 1964’s “Joy House,” described him as “the most beautiful human being.”

The French star, who died Sunday, made more than 100 movies in a career that spanned 50 years, but for that one transformative decade in film history — beginning with the Patricia Highsmith...

Alain Delon, the striking French leading man known for his uncommonly beautiful, coldly calculating villains in Le Samouraï and Purple Noon, has died. As confirmed by his family to France’s Afp news agency, Delon died Sunday after years of health complications stemming from a 2019 stroke. He was 88.An icon of French cinema,...

Alain Delon, the French actor most famous for his roles in the films of New Wave director Jean-Pierre Melville, especially “Le Samourai,” has died. He was 88.

“He passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family,” according to a statement released to the Afp news agency by his family.

In addition to “Le Samourai,” Delon also appeared in Melville’s brilliant heist film “Le Cercle rouge” and “Un Flic.”

Some of his other significant films were Rene Clement’s “Purple Noon”; Visconti’s “Rocco and His Brothers” and “The Leopard”; Antonioni’s “L’Eclisse”; Jose Giovanni’s “Two Men in Town”; and Joseph Losey’s “Mr. Klein.”

Although he triggered some controversies during the later part of his life due to his public comments on adoption of children by same-sex parents and affinity with far-right politicians, many prominent figures in France and abroad paid...

French acting star Alain Delon, whose many iconic roles included Le Samouraï, Plein Soleil and The Leopard, has died in France at the age of 88.

The actor’s children said in a statement that their father had passed away in the early hours of Sunday, surrounded by his family and beloved Belgian Shepherd Loubo, in his long-time chateau home in the village of Douchy, in the Le Loiret region some 100 miles south of Paris.

Delon’s death marks the passing of one of the last surviving icons of the French cinema scene of the 1960s and 70s, when the country was on an economic roll as it reconstructed in the wake of World War II.

Related: French Pres. Emmanuel Macron Leads Tributes To Alain Delon: “More Than A Star, A Monument”

The star, who was at the peak of this career from the 1960s to the 1980s, fell into acting by chance.

Is there anyone more emblematic of Hollywood than perennial movie star (& director) Clint Eastwood? With screen iconography that practically jumps out of the big screen and into real life, he has kept audiences intrigued through a myriad of genres and eras.

But he might be the quintessential masculine icon, forever etched in memory as the no-nonsense, boundary-pushing Inspector Harry Callahan, better known as Dirty Harry. Interestingly, this now-classic role was turned down by a litany of Hollywood’s who’s who, including the liberal-leaning Paul Newman.

Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry | Credit: Warner Bros.

Then why would Eastwood dive headfirst into such a controversial role that others deemed too hot to handle? Well, he saw gold whereas others saw coal; he recognized the script’s unique flavor!

And by turning conventional wisdom on its head, Eastwood not only took a daring plunge but also set a new cinematic standard, ultimately...

In the history of American movies, and, arguably, of movies in general, there has never been a partnership between a husband and wife as consequential as that of director John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands.

Not only did the two make several masterpieces together, among them Faces, A Woman Under the Influence and Opening Night. They managed to create a whole body of deeply personal features — shot completely outside of the studio system and often inside their own family home in the Hollywood Hills — that would usher in the era of what we now call “independent film.”

Surely, there had been some memorable director-actress duos before them, mostly in Europe: Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman, Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina, Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina, Michelangelo Antonioni and Monica Vitti. But in those cases, which definitely yielded their share of masterpieces as well, the director was the auteur and the actress his muse.

Gena Rowlands, the legendary actress who became one of the first major faces of American independent film through her collaborations with her late husband John Cassavetes, has died at the age of 94.

Rowlands, who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, died on Wednesday, August 14 in the afternoon at her home in Indian Wells, California, according to multiple media reports. No cause of death was given.

Born in Cambria, Wisconsin in 1930, Rowlands began acting in stage productions in the 1950s, gradually working her way up from regional theater to Broadway before becoming a regular presence on television. By the end of the decade she was frequently leading TV movies and making guest appearances on major network shows.

In 1954, Rowlands married John Cassavetes, who would go on to become her most important collaborator. Rowlands starred in ten films written and directed by Cassavetes, many of which were self-financed and quickly shot...

There's a long, complicated history of celebrity guest stars on "The Simpsons," especially in those early seasons where the celebrities were often never officially credited for their roles. Sometimes the celebrity fits into the "Simpsons" universe perfectly, and sometimes they stick out like a sore thumb. Sometimes they play themselves, and sometimes they play a brand new character. Sometimes they're revered by the characters, sometimes they're treated with total contempt. There are no rules here, although, after 35 seasons and counting, we've learned to pick up on some trends.

In "Simpsons" writer Mike Reiss' 2018 behind-the-scenes book, "Springfield Confidential," he wrote a bit about why so many celebrities have chosen to appear on the show. "The Simpsons" has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for its absurd number of guest stars, and Reiss has argued that most of them came on the show for one of five reasons.

Read...

On a recent July afternoon, the ever-mercurial Tom Rothman arrives in good spirits for a tour of Columbia Pictures’ archives in honor of the studio’s 100th anniversary. “Ask a lot of questions, because after this, I must go back to work,” says Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman. “This is way more fun than getting yelled at by agents.”

Naturally, Rothman — one of Hollywood’s longest-running studio chiefs, who’s been in his current gig since 2015 and has overseen the most profitable period in Columbia’s recent history — starts off by noting the costumes from marquee franchise Spider-Man. By his calculation, the collection houses more than 30 superhero suits at the archive from various Spider-Man movies.

“I recognize this very well — it was worth $2 billion at the box office to us,” says Rothman, pointing to a suit worn by Tom Holland in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Both that...

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It often feels like movie marketing is an unimaginative, flood-the-zone proposition in our age of pre-sold, IP-driven blockbusters. But as we've recently been reminded via the carefully crafted ad campaigns for smaller genre efforts like "MaXXXine" and "Longlegs", marketing departments are still a vital part of the business. How you sell each movie has certainly changed with the evolution of the media landscape, but even the biggest films will always need some kind of push. After all, audiences aren't likely to flock to a movie that has zero presence in the marketplace.

There really isn't an exception to this rule. The closest you're liable to find might be the August 5, 1953 release of Fred Zinnemann's "From Here to Eternity." Based on James Jones' critically acclaimed novel set at the U.S. Army's Schofield Barracks in Hawaii just prior to the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor,...

Exclusive: Days after Disney revealed that it was investigating a reported hack of its internal Slack workplace, the producers behind the upcoming indie Eyes in the Trees starring Anthony Hopkins say they has been targeted in a ransom-seeking data breach.

Producer Daemon Hillin (Which Brings Me to You) tells Deadline that he has received disturbing and very detailed emails from a Korean Zombie address that said 18 minutes of video footage from his film had been hacked. The breach constitutes all of Hopkins’ scenes that were shot in Los Angeles during last year’s strikes. (The film was awarded an interim agreement by SAG-AFTRA.)

The email included screenshots of Hopkins from the film, which is a reimagining of the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, along with a list of the film’s investors and other producers. Bgg Capital and Landon B. Gorman are the money behind the film...

While most may prioritize new additions to streaming apps each month — something we here at IndieWire take great pride in — viewers should also not neglect the fact that with each new property added, another must go. Though some apps do concentrate these expiring selections in a row on one of their menu pages, they aren’t always the easiest to find. Thankfully, we’ve done the work for you. Scouring each major platform and discovering what’s about to disappear from our watchlists, IndieWire has gathered a few selections worth your time before they go from major streamers like Netflix and Prime, as well as apps on the rise like Tubi and Kanopy.

In honor of the political conventions being hosted this summer, for our Netflix selection we’ve gone with “Born on the Fourth of July,” directed by Oliver Stone and starring Tom Cruise in an Academy-Award nominated performance...

Armando Silvestre, a busy actor in the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema who appeared with Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine in Two Mules for Sister Sara, with Yul Brynner in Kings of the Sun and with Burt Lancaster in The Scalphunters, has died. He was 98.

Silvestre died June 2 in Coronado, California, a representative from the Aztlan Mortuary in nearby La Mesa told The Hollywood Reporter.

The powerfully built Silvestre made scores of films in Mexico, among them Here Comes Martin Corona (1952), Rossana (1953), Story of a Mink Coat (1955) with Silvia Pinal, La Sombra Vengadora (1956), The Miracle Roses (1960), Neutrón Contra el Dr. Caronte (1963), La Choca (1974) and Faith, Hope and Charity (1974).

He excelled in Westerns and action adventure movies early in his career en route to compiling more than 200 credits on IMDb.

Armando Silvestre Carrascosa was born in San Diego on Jan. 28, 1926, and raised in Tijuana. His younger brother was Eduardo Silvestre, winner of the Mr.

At the 27th Academy Awards, Oscar helped Edmond O’Brien win an Oscar.

O’Brien played sleazy show biz publicist Oscar Muldoon in 1954’s “The Barefoot Contessa,” which starred Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. Bogart had been crowned Best Actor of 1951 for “The African Queen,” and had also contended for the same award for 1943’s Best Picture, “Casablanca.” Gardner was coming off of her first and only nomination, for Best Actress in 1953’s “Mogambo.” “The Barefoot Contessa” was written and directed by Academy favorite Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had won back-to-back Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for 1949’s “A Letter to Three Wives” and 1950’s Best Picture, “All About Eve.”

”The Barefoot Contessa” didn’t fare quite as well at the Oscars as “Letter” or “Eve.” Neither Bogart or Gardner received nominations, though Bogart was cited for his role in that same year’s Best Picture entry “The Caine Mutiny.

Thanks to Baz Luhrmann's electrifying 2022 biopic "Elvis," fans new and old (some very old at this point) have enthusiastically delved into the cultural icon's past to get a more nuanced understanding of how this Tennessee-born mama's career took so many unexpected turns before he collapsed in a pharmaceutically-induced heap at the age of 42.

Every chapter of Presley's life is packed with decisions both brilliant and personally/professionally self-destructive. Indeed, his tragic arc might just be the definitive showbiz cautionary tale. His was an incandescent (if highly derivative) talent that attracted opportunists and admirers; he was treated as a product, and, thus, had an awful tendency to treat those who genuinely loved him with the respect and tenderness they deserved.

Speaking of tenderness, Presley's value as an entertainment commodity was, at its early peak, so dizzyingly high that he could work around his newly signed contract with Paramount Pictures...

Kevin Costner, the guest on this year’s Cannes Film Festival live episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, is one of the most admired actors and filmmakers of his time, and has been for some 40 years, with credits to his name including The Untouchables, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, JFK, The Bodyguard, Hatfiels & McCoys and Yellowstone.

This week, the two-time Oscar winner, 69, came to Cannes to premiere the first installment of what is arguably his most ambitious project yet: Horizon, a four-film Western epic that he co-wrote, produced, directed, stars in and largely self-financed — indeed, he contributed $38 million of the $100 million total budget. (Warner Bros. will release Chapter 1 on June 28 and Chapter 2 on Aug. 16.)

But first, he stopped by the Campari Lounge in the Palais to record, in front of a live audience, an in-depth conversation about his entire life and career — from his...

There’s no point in hiring Nicolas Cage if you’re not going to let him rip with a wackadoodle, Ott performance, and he duly delivers in the sly psychological thriller The Surfer. Calibrating his character’s descent into mental and physical disarray so that it happens by evenly distributed degrees, Cage is in only moderately demented form overall here. That suits director Lorcan Finnegan (Without Name, Vivarium) and screenwriter Thomas Martin’s ambitions to call back to and yet also spoof vintage Australian New Wave films like Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout (1971), dreamtime stories about alienated outsiders.

Toxic masculinity, the Big Bad de nos jours, also seems to be on their mind although the performances and cinematic quirks (zooms, jump cuts, all that jazz) are so hammy and gestural there’s nothing subtle about the critique. But that’s what makes it fun.

Unfolding largely on a beach and its...

Irish director Lorcan Finnegan – already behind “Vivarium” – returns to Cannes with “The Surfer.” Starring Nicolas Cage, it follows a man who just wants to surf on a beach next to his old childhood home in Australia. But he is not a local anymore and he will have to fight for it – or lose his mind.

Nic’s character actually references “surfing as a metaphor for life.” Why did you want to explore – and maybe also mock – this philosophy?

I met Thomas Martin, who wrote the film, years ago. We wanted to do something together and then he mentioned “The Surfer.” It was about this one man, trying to deal with who he thinks he is and what he actually wants over the course of five days. It felt very contained, challenging and appealing to me as a filmmaker.

At the beginning of the film, The Surfer says: “You either surf,...

Roxanne Rosedale, the glamorous model and actress who assisted host Bud Collyer on the 1950s game show Beat the Clock and appeared in the Marilyn Monroe-starring The Seven Year Itch, has died. She was 95.

Known professionally as Roxanne, she died May 2 in an assisted care facility in her birthplace of Minneapolis, her daughter Ann Roddy told The Hollywood Reporter.

Roxanne became a hugely popular TV star after she joined CBS’ Beat the Clock, from Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, in 1950. She would introduce the contestants — who were tasked with completing complicated, outrageous stunts in an allotted time — snapped photos with a Sylvania camera and posed alongside the winners’ prizes. (Watch an episode here.)

While on the show, she made the covers of such magazines as Life, Look and (with Collyer) TV Guide and even had a doll named for her. The blue-eyed Roxanne Dolls featured a Beat the Clock...

The terror in "The Twilight Zone" always comes from "What if?" What if there was a little boy with way too much power for anyone to tell him "no"? What if what you thought of as Heaven turned out to be more like Hell? What if man-eating aliens arrived and made humans as docile as lambs to the slaughter?

These questions may be outrageous fantasy, but the terror of them is timeless. We still watch "The Twilight Zone" decades later, and the best episodes can still leave you chilled -- all thanks to the imagination of series creator Rod Serling.

Serling is synonymous with "The Twilight Zone" even for casual viewers; one could call him TV's first auteur. His reputation was as much thanks to his on-camera work as his writing. Serling was the narrator of "The Twilight Zone," introducing and closing out each episode. (He got the job after...

[Editor’s note: The following includes spoilers for “Sugar.”]

“Sugar” is a neo-noir television series set in modern-day Los Angeles, featuring private investigator John Sugar (Colin Farrell), who, in addition to being very good at his job, is also a huge movie buff. Sugar’s latest case, to find the missing granddaughter of legendary movie producer Jonathan Siegel (James Cromwell), only sends him even further down the path of Hollywood lore.

Throughout the eight episodes of Season 1, Sugar’s journey to find Olivia reminds him of scenes from some of his favorite classic films, which are intercut into the series as if we are seeing little flashes of what is racing through Sugar’s mind.

“It was all done after the fact, so I had no idea until I saw it how many [and] which clips [they used],” Farrell told IndieWire, adding he was pleasantly surprised to see himself juxtaposed with some of his all-time favorite films, like “Sunset Boulevard” and “The Maltese Falcon.

When Tony Scott died in 2012, he left behind more than a few unfinished projects, including a remake of Sam Peckinpah’s iconic Western, The Wild Bunch.

L.A. Confidential screenwriter Brian Helgeland was attached to write the script for the remake of The Wild Bunch for Tony Scott, and he spilled a few details about the project while speaking with Inverse, including that it would have been set in the modern day.

“I also wrote 45 pages of The Wild Bunch for Tony to direct before he died. Sadly, I always say that I’m still on page 45 of that project,” Helgeland said. “It’s pretty violent and set in the modern day. The plot revolves around L.A. rampart cops that were being sent to prison, but during the trial, they’re still technically free. So, they decide to head down to Mexico and rob a bank before scattering to the...

This article contains massive spoilers for "Abigail."

Dancing ballet en Pointe is arguably one of the hardest styles of dance to perfect. It takes years of training and rigorous dedication to master the move, and even still, without the support of pointe shoes, the body alone is not enough to withstand the pressure of the weight of a full human on such a small surface area. Ballet en Pointe can be hell on the body — especially the feet — but when executed properly, it looks absolutely effortless. In "Abigail," the incredible new horror film from the creative collective known as Radio Silence, a group of criminals are tasked with kidnapping a small girl named Abigail and holding her for ransom only to discover that they've been set up, and Abigail is a vampire who has locked them in her mansion of horrors to "play with her food" before devouring them all.

Michael Douglas appeared on “The Jess Cagle Show with Julia Cunningham” to talk about his new Apple TV+ series, “Franklin” – as well as Benjamin Franklin’s famous essay on flatulence (“Fart Proudly”). Check out his full interview during the weekday show on Radio Andy at 2pm Et and on the SiriusXM app with a subscription and free trial.

In the premiere of the biographical drama, Franklin, played by Douglas, passes gas. The 79-year-old Oscar winner told Jess and Julia that he had the founding father’s fart added to the script.

“That was my addition to the script,” Douglas said. “Because I had read this book – I mean, we did get a couple of criticisms on the show about, uh, they tried to show [Benjamin Franklin] farting. And I said, ‘Well, I’m sending these critics who brought this up this book on Franklin. This is ‘Fart Proudly,’ Ok? So you learn about this.

Believe it or not, even the most beloved movies can face initial skepticism from actors. Field of Dreams, a 1989 classic, became more than just a sports movie. It delved into deeper themes like redemption, family, and the importance of pursuing dreams. Despite its universal appeal, Ray Liotta, who played the memorable character “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, wasn’t immediately sold on the story.

Ray Liotta as “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams

At first, the idea of ghosts playing baseball in a cornfield seemed a bit too far-fetched for him. However, he changed his mind and decided to be part of it, thanks to the great friendships he formed with the cast, especially Kevin Costner.

Friendship With Kevin Costner Persuaded Ray Liotta to Reconsider a Flick

Kevin Costner and Ray Liotta in Field of Dreams

Fortunately for fans of the movie, Ray Liotta‘s decision to join Field of Dreams...

American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman

The actor Lou Gossett Jr, who has died aged 87, is best known for his performance in An Officer and A Gentleman (1982) as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley, whose tough training transforms recruit Richard Gere into the man of the film’s title. He was the first black winner of an Academy Award for best supporting actor, and only the third black actor (after Hattie McDaniel and Sidney Poitier) to take home any Oscar.

The director, Taylor Hackford, said he cast Gossett in a role written for a white actor, following a familiar Hollywood trope played by John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Victor McLaglen or R Lee Ermey, because while researching he realised the tension of “black enlisted men having make-or-break control over whether white college graduates would become officers”. Gossett had already...