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While the 2025 Sundance Film Festival is just around the corner, January also brings an opportunity to revisit one of the highlights that made a splash nearly three decades ago, now newly restored. Jim McKay’s feature debut Girls Town, which was written in collaboration with stars Lili Taylor, Bruklin Harris, and Anna Grace, also features an ensemble including Guillermo Diaz, Michael Imperioli, Stephanie Berry, Tom Gilroy, and John Ventimiglia. Newly restored in 4K by nonprofit lab IndieCollect, Film Movement Classics has acquired the film for a North American theatrical release which will begin January 17 at New York City’s IFC Center, followed by a national expansion and digital and home-entertainment debut.

Here’s the synopsis for the film, originally released by October Films: “When high school senior Nikki (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) commits suicide, her shocked friends set in search of the reasons why. Their discovery that Nikki had been raped but...

Peggy Moffitt, the iconic ’60s model who was also a contract player at Paramount and who appeared in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up, died at her Beverly Hills home on Saturday from complications of dementia. Her son, Christopher Claxton, confirmed the news to the New York Times. She was 86.

Moffitt’s wide-ranging influence can be traced to the persona she created, often in collaboration with others. Her gamine, modern look was a construct made up of her signature pale skin, harlequin eye makeup, five-point Vidal Sassoon haircut and a sense of humor, all of which she never abandoned.

She had a cultural moment when, in 1964, she posed in a topless swimsuit from designer Rudi Gernreich. The controversial look referenced a schoolboy’s shorts, with thin suspenders rising in a “V” between the cleavage, but nothing else above the waistline. The resulting image, which ran in publications across the world, was condemned...

Peggy Moffitt, the actor and model who became a 1960s mod icon wearing designer Rudi Gernreich’s famous topless bathing suit design and other bold looks of the era, died Saturday in Beverly Hills. She was 86.

Her son, Christopher Claxton, told the New York Times she died of complications of dementia.

Moffitt’s husband, renowned photographer William Claxton, shot the photo that became a sensation for its daring design of a bathing suit held up only by slender straps, with no top portion. The 1964 photo, first published in Look and then a more explicit version in Women’s Wear Daily, was banned in some countries even though her arms were covering her breasts in some of the poses.

The actor and model was working at a trendy Beverly Hills boutique that sold pop art fashions when Gernreich asked her to pose, though she specified she would never wear the suit in public.

by Nathaniel R

Aunjanue Ellis in her film debut, "Girls Town"

In the glitz and glamour of awards season it can be hard to remember that today's most celebrated performers were once just starry eyed hopefuls trying to land a movie role. For this four-part series, a look back at the films that launched each of our acting nominees, some more auspiciously than others. Because acting is a three medium art form we're sticking to their first feature film role to make it easier. Some of the nominees had acting gigs before landing their first film. We'll take them in chronological order of their debuts and share a screen shot of the very first credited moment on film.

We begin with Supporting Actress which we'll be discussing at length on the Smackdown this weekend. But first a look back at their very first roles...

At first blush, Jim McKay may not seem like the poster child for diverse filmmaking: He’s a white guy who has spent the bulk of his career directing other people’s TV shows, from “Law & Order” to “The Good Wife.” But the New York filmmaker has consistently delivered astute dramas about the daily lives of underrepresented Americans long before widespread calls for inclusivity hit Hollywood. His new feature, the low budget crowdpleaser “En El Séptimo Día,” is just the latest example.

After his 1996 debut “Girls Town,” McKay won acclaim at Sundance for 2000’s “Our Song,” a Brooklyn-set coming-of-age story starring a young Kerry Washington and others as members of a community marching band in a low-income neighborhood. For his next projects, McKay went straight to television long before the era of Netflix Originals, directing the working class ensemble piece “Everyday People” and the social worker drama “Angel Rodriguez” for HBO.

“En la comunidad hay poder. En los números hay fuerza.” Translated to English, this line means “There’s power in community. There’s strength in numbers.” Spoken in first trailer for En el Séptimo Día, this sentiment embodies the essence of Jim McKay’s newest film. Having spent the past few years directing various high-profile television shows like The Good Wife and Mr. Robot, McKay has finally returned to independent filmmaking for the first time since 2005 – and what better time than now to craft a film that speaks to the importance of community within minority groups.

En el Séptimo Día tells the story of a group of undocumented immigrants as they navigate their full-time jobs throughout the week – ultimately leading to Sunday, the day they spend together playing soccer in Sunset Park. When team captain José (Fernando Cardona) is scheduled to work on the upcoming championship Sunday, both he and...

Dick Contino, a hip-swiveling accordionist who was a regular on The Ed Sullivan Show and starred in the 1958 rock 'n' roll film Daddy-o, has died. He was 87.

Contino died Wednesday in his hometown of Fresno, Calif., the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.

Popular with the kids back in the day, Contino lost a drag race to Sandra Giles and portrayed a singer and truck driver in Daddy-o — which was scored by John Williams in his feature debut — and then appeared in The Beat Generation (1959), Girls Town (1959) and The Big Night (1960).

By some...