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Winter, often perceived as the bleakest season with its barren landscape, year-end melancholy, and unresolved struggles, has also been eulogized for its introspective beauty. Austrian poet Rilke, writing to a woman devastated by her husband’s desertion, described winter as a time to nurture one’s inner garden—tending to the mind and spirit after a period of endurance. Albert Camus echoed this sentiment: “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Similarly, films like The Holiday depict this growth, framing heartbreak and recovery against the cozy charm of swapped holiday lodgings, emphasizing renewal and comfort over sorrow.

Here are ten films like “The Holiday” that somewhat capture the same spirit:

10. Serendipity (2001)

That winter, and by extension, Christmas, is supposed to be interspersed with miracles is retold through “Serendipity.” One element in particular echoes throughout the film: the appeal of fate and destiny.

What’s Christmas without “A Christmas Carol”? There’s a reason why Charles Dickens’ classic has been made over and over: It’s always timely to remind people of the real spirit of the season. And to not be a selfish jerk. Here are our favorite versions of “A Christmas Carol,” from various Disney takes to the one everyone agrees is the best adaptation ever.

Photo credit: Apple TV+

12. Spirited (2022)

What if Scrooge (here named Clint Briggs) were a smug CEO who was beyond redemption? Ryan Reynolds brings his ususal snark to this holiday musical, which costars Will Ferrell as the Ghost of Christmas Present, who’s long overdue to retire, and Tracy Morgan as the voice of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Photo credit: Walt Disney

11. Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)

Who else but Scrooge McDuck could play mean old Ebenezer Scrooge? Mickey is, of course, underappreciated clerk Bob Cratchit,...

It's often repeated that Harrison Ford hates "Star Wars" and Han Solo, the movie and role that made him a star. Ford himself leans into this, such as when he destroyed a Han Solo action figure on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."

Even while first filming the original 1977 "Star Wars," Ford wasn't the biggest fan of George Lucas' script: He memorably exclaimed "George! You can type this s***, but you sure can't say it!" Granted, it seems less that Ford despises "Star Wars" and more that he's just unsentimental about it. For him, playing Han Solo was just a successful gig, nothing more, and he's frustrated by the superfans who insist on always beating the dead tauntaun.

That unsentimental approach showed itself in his comments about being in "Star Wars" to Vanity Fair: "'Star Wars' was a big success, so I was happy to come back and play Han Solo again,...

It always feels refreshing whenever an anime or manga tries to reference some other anime or pop culture stuff in its narrative. Fans are then often left with finding any connection between the two different media, which has always been entertaining for many of us. And quite unsurprisingly, Dandadan has achieved mastery in exactly that.

Okarun from Dandadan | Credits: Science Saru

With the 10 episodes of Dandadan released so far, viewers have witnessed this very interesting pattern in Yokinobu Tatsu’s creation, that he likes to reference a lot, which could be a technique he learned while working under Tatsuki Fujimoto.

Among all the references, however, a particular one has stood out as the most relevant so far in the series. It is Okarun’s sharing of his real name with the legendary Japanese actor from the past, Ken Takakura. But in reality, it is not just the name that is similar!

There are five movies in the "Dirty Harry" series, in which Clint Eastwood embodies Inspector Harry Callahan, who emerges as an antihero figure unafraid to bend the rules. Although Callahan's methods are unorthodox, they are incredibly effective. "Go ahead, make my day," he drawls before brandishing a gun to apprehend criminals. When the "Dirty Harry" franchise was still looking for potential scripts, Fred Dekker — who penned the screenplay for 2018's "The Predator" — wrote a spec script that ended up being turned down by Eastwood. What exactly happened here?

Per Dekker himself, this rejected spec script for the "Dirty Harry" franchise was remodeled later into the 1991 crime thriller, "Ricochet," with Denzel Washington playing the lead role originally intended for Eastwood. Dekker told The Flashback Files that he had accidentally mirrored the plot of "Cape Fear" (which he claims to have not seen at the time) for his "Dirty Harry" installment...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Beatles ’64 (David Tedeschi)

While Andrei Ujică’s Twst / Things We Said Today, which premiered on the fall festival circuit this year, took a more avant-garde approach to Beatlemania in the United States, the David Tedeschi-directed, Martin Scorsese-produced Beatles ’64 is a far more straightforward and therefore fan-pleasing documentary about the Fab Four. Capturing their February 7, 1964 descent upon NYC, the neatly-assembled, restored archival footage shot by Albert and David Maysles is the finest part of the documentary, while present-day talking heads memories from Paul McCartney (speaking on how their lyrics attempted to make a universal yet personal connection), Ringo Starr, and especially David Lynch provide welcome context. The Mulholland Dr. director remarked about seeing Beatles in a boxing ring, waxing poetic about...

Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese’s planned remake of Cape Fear is set to star Javier Bardem, it’s been revealed.

The first ever television collaboration between cinema giants, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg is moving forwards with a mighty casting announcement: Javier Bardem will be taking the lead role in an upcoming small screen remake of Cape Fear.

The report, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, states that Bardem will take on the role of the unhinged stalker Max Cady, the narrative’s charismatic but psychopathic antagonist. Bardem’s casting sees him join a short but distinguished list of actors who have graced the role: Robert Mitchum played Cady in the 1962 film and Robert De Niro portrayed the character in Scorsese’s pulpy 1991 take.

We’d imagine that Bardem was one of the very first casting suggestions to spring to mind. His take on the equally menacing antagonist Anton Chigurh...

Javier Bardem is a wonderful actor, a man whose filmography is filled with a diverse array of characters whose appearances span the genre spectrum. He is also, it would be fair to say, an actor who's really good at playing villainous psychopaths — be it No Country For Old Men's Anton Chigurh, Skyfall's Silva, Pirates Of The Caribbean's Captain Salazar, or Lyle, Lyle Crocodile's mendacious Hector P. Valenti. And according to Deadline, another unhinged wrong'un is now in Bardem's sights, as he has signed on to play the notorious killer Max Cady in the latest retooling of Cape Fear, which Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Nick Antosca are currently setting up at Apple TV.

Created by The Act's Nick Antosca and set to be executive produced by Spielberg and Scorsese (as well as Bardem), this latest take on Cape Fear — previously adapted from John D. MacDonald's book...

On Monday, Nov. 18, Apple TV+ announced a new 10-episode series adaptation of “Cape Fear,” executive produced by and starring Javier Bardem as Max Cady, a killer who gets out of prison and haunts the lives of married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden. Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are also onboard as executive producers.

The series is based on the 1957 novel “The Executioners,” which was previously adapted into the 1962 “Cape Fear” starring Robert Mitchum as Max Cady and Gregory Peck as Sam Bowden. That film was remade in 1991 by Scorsese, whose version starred Robert De Niro in an Oscar-nominated performance as Cady. Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange played the Bowdens, while Juliette Lewis earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nom for her role as the Bowdens’ teenage daughter Danielle.

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The writer and showrunner for this version of “Cape Fear” will be Nick Antosca,...

Back in 2023, Apple TV+ officially ordered a series adaptation of ‘Cape Fear.’ The show is set to adapt Universal’s 1991 remake of a 1962 film under the same name, which was in turn based on the 1957 novel ‘The Executioner’ written by John D. MacDonald.

The film is about a convicted rapist who uses his knowledge of the law and its loopholes to seek revenge on a former public defender. He blames the lawyer for his 14-year prison sentence, claiming the lawyer purposely sabotaged his defense during the trial.

The series is being developed by UCP and Amblin. It will be the first TV project that Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg worked on together. They are executive producers along with showrunner Nick Antosca, who has worked on shows like ‘Channel Zero’ and ‘The Act.’ Other executive producers include Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey from Amblin, and Alex Hedlund from Eat the Cat.

At one point in time, Steven Spielberg was set to direct the thriller Cape Fear, while Martin Scorsese was attached to direct the historical drama Schindler’s List. Then Scorsese decided to step away from Schindler’s List, a choice that coincided with Spielberg deciding that Cape Fear was too violent for him. So the directors traded movies – resulting in Scorsese directing Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis to Oscar nominations for Cape Fear and Spielberg turning Schindler’s List into a Best Picture winner. Now, Spielberg and Scorsese are teaming up to executive produce a TV series adaptation of Cape Fear, with Nick Antosca on board as executive producer and showrunner – and Deadline reports that Javier Bardem has signed on to play the villainous Max Cady in this new take on the story!

Coming our way from Amblin Television and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, this version...

The 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald was adapted twice for the big screen with both 1962’s Cape Fear and 1991’s Cape Fear, and the tale is next headed to the small screen for a television series from writer/showrunner Nick Antosca (“Channel Zero”).

THR reports today that Javier Bardem (“Monsters”) will star in the brand new Cape Fear television series, which hails from exec producers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Bardem is set to play the villain of the piece, the sinister Max Cady.

Apple+ has already greenlit the project with a series order.

The Hollywood Reporter notes, “The 10-episode series is described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. The broad strokes of the story and the characters remain the same as the film versions as happily married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden face a...

Lock the doors and stay inside: Apple TV+ is heading back to Cape Fear.

The streamer has ordered a 10-episode adaptation of the film thriller, TVLine has learned, with Oscar winner Javier Bardem set to star. Bardem will play vengeful criminal Max Cady, the role played by Robert De Niro in the 1991 film version.

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Apple TV+ has given a formal green light to Cape Fear, a TV series executive produced by two Oscar winners, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. They are joined by a third, Javier Bardem, who will star and executive produce.

Created by Nick Antosca (The Act), Cape Fear is based on both John D. MacDonald’s novel “The Executioners” — which inspired the 1962 feature of the same name directed by J. Lee Thompson from storyboards devised by original director Alfred Hitchcock — as well as the 1991 remake directed by Scorsese.

In the 10-episode series, described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden when Max Cady (played by Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.

That is a slight departure from MacDonald’s book and the...

Javier Bardem, currently starring in his first television series in Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, is setting down the river for more TV work.

The actor has come aboard to star in a drama series re-imagining of Cape Fear, based on the film thrillers made by Universal Pictures. The project is set up at Apple TV+, which has greenlit it with a series order.

Nick Antosca, who created the true crime dramas A Friend of the Family and The Act, is writing and will showrun the series that will be executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Scorsese directed the 1991 version of the movie while Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment was one of the companies behind it. Bardem is also executive producing.

The 10-episode series is described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century.

Nicolas Cage is one of America’s greatest movie stars, and certainly its most distinctive one. His singular genius will be the subject of a retrospective festival at Metrograph, the wonderful independent movie theater in New York City.

IndieWire reports that “Nicolas Uncaged” will present 35mm showings of 10 of Cage’s iconic films: “Adaptation,” “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” “Con Air,” “Moonstruck,” “National Treasure,” “Pig,” “Red Rock West,” “Vampire’s Kiss,” “The Wicker Man,” and “Wild at Heart.”

“Heaped with praise and panegyrics as one of the finest screen actors of his generation, pilloried and parodied as an anything-for-a-paycheck hambone with a weakness for weird wigs and prostheses, Nicolas Cage is a one-man sideshow, a mixture of Marlon Brando, Robert Mitchum, Lon Chaney, and a stick of TNT who takes back ‘serious thespian’ prestige whenever he wants to, dives into grindhouse material and Academy Award hopefuls with the same mad enthusiasm,...

Nicolas Cage’s status as a national treasure is being cemented by the Metrograph.

The New York City-based theater has announced a “Nicolas Uncaged” festival to honor the acclaimed star. The 10-film retrospective opens November 8 at Metrograph In Theater, and will feature 35mm showings of “Con Air,” “Moonstruck,” “The Wicker Man,” and “Wild at Heart.”

“Heaped with praise and panegyrics as one of the finest screen actors of his generation, pilloried and parodied as an anything-for-a-paycheck hambone with a weakness for weird wigs and prostheses, Nicolas Cage is a one-man sideshow, a mixture of Marlon Brando, Robert Mitchum, Lon Chaney, and a stick of TNT who takes back ‘serious thespian’ prestige whenever he wants to, dives into grindhouse material and Academy Award hopefuls with the same mad enthusiasm, and never seems to be having anything less than a total blast in front of the camera,” the Metrograph press statement reads.

For many cinephiles, November becomes Noirvember, a month dedicated to noir movies.

Noir is often characterized by its fatalistic outlook, highly stylized imagery, down-on-their-luck and morally ambiguous protagonists, urban settings, shadows, corruption, narration, and of course, the femme fatale. All of these elements marry well with our favorite genre: horror.

This week’s streaming picks blend noir and horror together, kicking off your #Noirvember with horror movies that bear the earmarks of a classic noir film.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Angel Heart– Hoopla, Kanopy

The perfect marriage of psychological horror and noir, Angel Heart follows Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke), a private investigator that Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) hires to track down missing musician Johnny Favorite. Harry’s search leads him to New Orleans, where he finds voodoo, murder, love, and a deal with the devil.

Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang might be done with his semi-retirement. “I have a strong desire to make another feature film,” he tells Variety at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival.

“With my actors, we’ve been working together for such a long time. Recently, they’ve been starring in other people’s films and I want them to be in my film again. I am waiting for them to reach a certain age, and we will do it again. Hopefully, I’ll live long enough to see that happen. Just one more feature film! That’s enough for me.”

His biggest concern?

“My physicality. Do I still have the energy to shoot more films? Looking back, I can see I am different now, but I also like the idea of being old and having a different energy,” says the 67-year-old, still dedicated to “making portraits” of his actors.

“I want to...

It’s shaping up to be a Huston family Christmas.

Siblings and Hollywood royalty Anjelica and Danny Huston are teaming on a new project, The Christmas Witch Trial of La Befana, a hybrid animated and live-action feature film that is currently shooting in Los Angeles and Ontario, Canada.

HighballTV confirmed the details of the film, which was written by David James Brock and HighballTV’s Melissa D’Agostino based on an idea they conceived with Matt Campagna who is also directing with D’Agostino, a frequent creative partner. Johnathan Sharp is producing.

The plot follows a peculiar court case that unspools after the children in a rural Italian village kidnap their legendary Christmas witch, played by Huston, and put her on trial in an attempt to stop her annual judgment from their lives. While casting a spell through witches, fantasy and Italian folklore, the project is said to touch on universal themes of grief,...

This article contains discussions of sexual assault.

If there's one thing Stephen King knows pretty well, it's villains. The prolific horror author has been writing basically nonstop since he released "Carrie," his debut novel, back in 1974, and his work has been endlessly adapted for both the big and small screen. In 2009, he even compiled a list of his favorite villains that he didn't create, and it's a pretty solid rundown — which certainly isn't surprising.

From literary icons to on-screen favorites to a villain with a confusingly familiar name — I'll clarify that whole thing when we arrive at that point — here are Stephen King's top ten villains of all time, whom he ranked for Entertainment Weekly at the close of the aughts. King ranked his top 10 from "least villainous" to "most villainous," apparently, so we've preserved that order here.

Read more: The 50 Scariest Horror Movie Monsters Ranked

Max Cady From Cape Fear...

Ahhh, fall. It’s finally here. The leaves are dropping, pumpkin spice is in the air (and everyone’s coffee), and the holidays are close enough where we’re all either rushing to get our work done before the end of the year or starting to wind down in hopes that people will soon stop bothering us. It’s a magical time, especially with new awards contenders like “Anora” and “Conclave” finally releasing to wide audiences, but let’s not forget that older films deserve some love too. Especially around Thanksgiving, a holiday specifically designed for reflection. What better way to celebrate than looking back on some classics of cinema, both the widely seen and the obscure.

While October may have provided the spooks in New York and Los Angeles repertory theaters, November aims to calm things down with light offerings for youngsters like “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,...

Hoo-ah! Actually, how about who are two acting legends you’d want to see in a boxing match? If you went with Robert Mitchum and Charles Bronson, we’d all be in for one hell of a slobberknocker. But when we think of Al Pacino squaring off against Dustin Hoffman, we might have a real demonstration of The Method on our hands — and to think it was actually proposed.

Having come up around the same time, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman quickly marked themselves as some of the most unique, bold talents on the screen. With that, people couldn’t help but lump them in the same class and debate over who had the upper hand — or the best right hook. As Pacino recalls in his new book Sonny Boy (which is crammed with amazing stories), “There must have been something in the air, because the comparisons were flying left and right.

Wow, Shirley MacLaine is spilling the beans about some of her famous leading men, and she’s sure as hell not holding anything back. In her latest revelation, the iconic actress tells us all about the good, the bad and the ugly of Hollywood’s leading men at the height of her fame – and guess what? She had an affair with most of them.

Shirley MacLaine Opens Up About Her Long and Successful Acting Career

Shirley MacLaine is one of the last greats still alive that acted all the way from black and white to color television, and through the years, she’s remained as open as an open book.

She’s fashionable, she’s iconic, and she’s, best of all, a nontraditional woman at a time when the word “woke” hasn’t even started stirring from slumber.

While celebrity memoirs are now becoming a trend rather than a...

The new Todd Phillips film is about a pair of Jokers and this week’s film quiz focuses on other movie duos.

They say it takes two to tango, but no one ever says it takes two to Tango And Cash. Why would they? Stupid thing to say. Anyway, October’s first big release Joker: Folie à Deux sees Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker joined by Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn for an all-singing, all-dancing sequel – just don’t call it a musical! And as Warner Bros also announced the animated Robin movie Dynamic Duo earlier this week, we’re quizzing for two.

As always, there are three rounds and 30 questions in total. Once you’ve completed today’s film quiz, you’ll find a link to a separate post with the correct answers at the bottom of this post. This is just for fun, but please let us know how...

The loss of a loved one gives way to full-fledged lunacy in Hold Your Breath, the feature debut from directing duo Karrie Crouse and Will Joines. Set in the Oklahoma panhandle circa 1933, the film depicts the brutal dust storms that ravaged the prairie and threatened the lives of its residents during the Dust Bowl.

I’m 80 years old and this is my 60th year in the entertainment business. It’s hard to believe even as I write it. Most of my career was in public relations, working with the biggest stars of the day. There were too many secrets in Hollywood back then, but I sometimes miss the mystery of icons like Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Diahann Carroll, Charlton Heston and so many others. They spoke to the audience mainly through their work and carefully controlled press to promote their latest film. That mystery allowed me to pull off one of my most unusual achievements for a client when I accompanied actress and photojournalist Gina Lollobrigida to Cuba in 1974 for an exclusive photo essay and interview with Fidel Castro. As I watched Castro playing 5 on 5 basketball in an empty arena, I asked myself how a girl from a small town in Virginia ended up here.

One of the best bits of advice any writer will give you is to make yourself familiar with as many tropes, cliches and conventions as possible. That way, you can understand how they work while also knowing just when to ignore them. One convention seen in just about all of fiction is the idea that the protagonist and antagonist must share at least one, if not many, moments together, culminating in a final altercation in which the hero emerges victorious over the villain. It's a trope so common that not only is it not questioned, it's routinely expected, so much so that when it's missing, it seems initially like it could be a mistake. Of course, there are many examples of novels, TV shows, and films where this convention is subverted or even ignored, yet it becomes more difficult to do so when an artist is working within the confines of genre.

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...

“I pursued the glitz for a while. And I don’t regret it. But I know it wasn’t the real thing. It wasn’t the real thing.” This sentiment, which could almost be poetry or song lyrics, is spoken by Edna O’Brien in one of the final interviews she gave, which appears toward the end of director Sinéad O’Shea’s engaging documentary. “Glitz” is if anything an understatement: The film opens with something of a roll-call of O’Brien’s famous friends, showing the celebrated Irish author in her prime rubbing shoulders with the likes of Paul McCartney, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Connery, Jane Fonda, Judy Garland and Laurence Olivier. Indeed, she rubs more than shoulders with some of them: Romantic conquests include Robert Mitchum. Yowza.

After the razzle dazzle prologue to get newcomers interested with the promise of famous faces, the film proper begins, tracing O’Brien’s more humble roots in County Clare,...

Glen Powell is in a league of his own. Or rather, each leading man is to an extent.

Powell weighed in on a comparison between himself and fellow star Ryan Gosling after an unnamed Hollywood producer told The Wrap that Powell appeals to all genders at the box office. The producer seemingly overlooked Gosling’s diverse filmography, and marginalized both actors into gender binaries.

“Unlike an actor like Ryan Gosling whose appeal is mostly limited to female audiences, Glen appeals to both females and males,” the producer said, adding that a wide range of “audiences now go to movies to see” Powell who recently led “Twisters” and is set to star in the “Running Man” remake from Edgar Wright. The actor will also appear in college football comedy series “Chad Powers.”

Powell simply shrugged off the Gosling mention on Twitter.

“Gosling is a legend,” Powell tweeted. “I’m just Glen,...

Before Deadpool & Wolverine, Hugh Jackman starred in what he thought to be his final appearance as Wolverine in Logan. Among the Fox X-Men films, Logan stood out as a film that subverted the expectations of viewers about a superhero film. It is not surprising considering Jackman cited Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven and Mickey Rourkle’s The Wrestler as inspirations for the film.

Hugh Jackman and Dafne Keen in Logan | 20th Century Fox

Eastwood’s 1992 film was one film from the Western genre that dared to visit themes which remained unexplored in films before that. Unforgiven was the Academy Award winner that year for Best Picture, with a Best Director win for the Dirty Harry actor.

Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven Served as an Inspiration for Hugh Jackman’s Logan Clint Eastwood in a still from Unforgiven | Malpaso Productions

Hugh Jackman did a lot of things right in Logan, thinking that...

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...

Courtesy of Studiocanal

by James Cameron-wilson

Social commentary doesn’t come much stronger than in J. Lee Thompson’s 1959 drama. Here, a jittery aerial shot swoops down on the meandering Thames and the industrial, terraced sophistication of London in the 1950s. The drama, an adaptation of the play by Ted Willis, opens with a shot of an open stretch of urban wasteland, where a young thug – played by David Hemmings – runs straight into the arms of a plainclothes policeman, played by Ronald Howard (son of Leslie Howard). Allowing for the poetic licence that the teenager would have seen the cop a mile off, it is a good starting point, as the detective inspector gives a Pythonesque/Harold McMillan sermon: “you’ve never had it so good, when I was twenty years younger…” And so we cut to the bustling life of the block – or rather, the street – as it used to be,...

The devilishly charming, rugged Robert Mitchum made a name for himself with a number of classics spanning many genres, most notably noirs, westerns, war dramas and crime thrillers. But how many of his titles stand the test of time? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1917 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mitchum cut his teeth in a number of bit parts before landing his star-making turn in “The Story of G.I. Joe” (1945), playing an army captain in WWII. The film brought him his sole Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor and solidified his screen persona as a world-weary, hardbitten antihero.

Mitchum found his greatest success in film noirs, where his cynical, playfully ironic demeanor proved a perfect match for the ultra-dark genre. Whether playing the hero in “Out of the Past” (1947) or the villain in “The Night of the Hunter...

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Film Noir Gets so Many Studio Notes it Achieves Sentience

I’m not the most important person in the world today who loves Venn Diagrams, but “His Kind of Woman” might be best explained as something that rests at the center of a series of overlapping circles. Almost all of those circles are “Howard Hughes wanted reshoots,” to be fair, but there are a number of factors that make this tropical fever dream a fun film noir b-side, best watched with a rowdy group of friends late at night. Alcohol is optional,...

Do you relish the eerie thrill of watching creepy killers in action? Inspired by the creepy af vibes of Longlegs, we’ve curated a list of 12 of the most disturbing serial killer movies ever made. These films plunge deep into the minds of the most twisted and terrifying murderers, delivering spine-tingling suspense that will make you question the very fabric of humanity.

Serial killer movies are all about the psychological thrill, the nerve-wracking tension, and that unshakable sense of dread. We’re not just talking about gore—though there’s plenty to go around. We’re diving into the chilling calm of meticulous murderers, the grotesque enjoyment of their gruesome deeds, and the horrific genius that makes these films unforgettable. If you’re a true crime fan or just love a good scare, these movies are guaranteed to haunt your thoughts.

New Line Cinema 12. The Cell (2000)

The Cell is a...

With Richard Linklater, Edgar Wright, and Tom Cruise calling Glen Powell the modern version of an Old Hollywood leading man, it’s only fitting that Paul Schrader would chime in.

The “Oh, Canada” writer/director posted on Facebook that Powell is akin to Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, and William Holden in terms of his star power.

“Glen Powell is a movie star in the Holden/Mitchum/Newman mold,” Schrader wrote. “Now he needs to make his ‘Hud.'”

Newman starred in the 1963 Western-tinged drama “Hud,” directed by Martin Ritt, which helped cement the rise of the antihero main characters. Newman’s titular Hud Bannon lives on his family cattle ranch in Texas and battles his nephew (Brandon de Wilde) for the affections of housekeeper Alma (Patricia Neal). Newman gave a performance as an arrogant, abusive alcoholic that earned him an Academy Award Best Actor nomination. The film went on to win Best Cinematography,...

Horror picture "Longlegs" is proving to be a surprising box office success. A lot of credit must go to indie studio Neon's marketing campaign, which was scary enough to get people paying attention, yet restrained enough to not give the whole movie away.

Starring Maika Monroe as FBI Agent Lee Harker, "Longlegs" follows the hunt for a serial killer, played by a well-disguised Nicolas Cage. Cage's killer character is mercifully kept at a distance or off-screen for most of the movie; the rare times we get an up-close look, it's like we're intruding on something devilish.

Director Osgood Perkins' previous films have felt a bit too empty for me. The procedural core of "Longlegs," though, gives the movie enough of a skeleton that I could appreciate Perkins' craftsmanship without it trying my patience. Is "Longlegs" the scariest movie ever? No, but it is the movie equivalent of a page-turner,...

Robert Towne, who won an Oscar for his Chinatown original screenplay and was nominated for his Shampoo, The Last Detail and Greystoke scripts, died Monday at his home. He was 89.

PR firm McClure & Associates announced the news on behalf of Towne’s family.

Towne also earned BAFTA, Golden Globe and WGA awards for Chinatown, the L.A.-set 1974 thriller starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. It was one of three Writers Guild Awards he won during his career, along with Shampoo and the drama series Mad Men, on which he was a consulting producer during the final seventh season. He also was nominated for The Last Detail (1973) and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1985). He was honored with the guild’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement in 1997.

Thoughtful and soft spoken, Towne was a perfectionist who hated studio meetings and script notes and famously would disappear for...

Some of the most memorable ventures into "The Twilight Zone" are bottle episodes in spirit if not exact definition. "The Invaders" follows a woman in a remote cabin menaced by tiny aliens. "Nothing in the Dark" features not only a young Robert Redford but also an elderly woman (Gladys Cooper) scared that death will be arriving at her door.

Cooper returned for a similar "Twilight Zone" in the show's fifth and last season: "The Night Call" Cooper plays Elva Keene, an aged widow living in a Maine cabin who is dealing with repeated phone calls that always go silent whenever she picks up. Is it just a technical error, like her nurse assures her? Or is something sinister and supernatural lurking in the phone lines?

On "The Night Call," the guest talent wasn't only in front of the camera. The episode was directed by Jacques Tourneur, one of the first...

Director Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is considered a cult classic, and the sci-fi film recently completed 42 years since its release. The film stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, and the performance remains one of the more underrated roles of the acclaimed actor. However, Ford wasn’t the first choice for the role.

One Oscar-winning actor was Ridley Scott’s first choice for Blade Runner (Credit: Warner Bros).

According to reports, one legendary Hollywood actor was initially the first choice for playing the lead role. However, the Academy Award-winning actor eventually dropped out of the film, paving the way for Ford to take it up. Nonetheless, Ford did not have a great experience working on the film. Here is how the casting of Blade Runner changed over time.

Ridley Scott Wanted to Cast Dustin Hoffman Over Harrison Ford in Blade Runner

Director Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was adapted from...

In the "Star Trek" episode "The Galileo Seven", Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Lieutenant Commander Scott (James Doohan), and three specialists are assigned to take Enterprise's shuttlecraft, the Galileo, on a special survey to map the Murasaki-312 quasar. A mysterious spatial phenomenon pulls the shuttle off course, however, and it crash lands on a nearby world inhabited by vicious 10-foot-tall cavemen.

The seven people on board the Galileo have to repair their ship and find a way to contact the Enterprise through the signal-scrambling mists of the quasar. Their job is made more difficult by the attacking cavemen, who want to murder them with spears. The collected and logical Spock attempts to scare off the brutes, while his more emotional, human counterparts encourage deadly force. When two of the Galileo Seven are killed, Spock discourages a memorial service. The episode is ultimately about how Spock's logic isn't always...

Nineteen forty-seven was a crucial year for Robert Mitchum’s rising star. The enduring popular classic, of course, is Jacques Tourneur’s seminal Out of the Past, and he headlined Edward Dmytryk’s Oscar-nominated prestige thriller Crossfire. It’s in Raoul Walsh’s noirish, Freudian western Pursued, though, that we see Mitchum crossing the divide between what Hollywood expected of the young man and the godlike figure they got in return.

The performance is a total menu of Mitchum’s various modes: an uneven mix of the young, beefy neurotic with a few too many shirt buttons undone; the high-riding titan who would star in Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter; and the varnished-oak elder statesman who still has a few moves left in him, in Dick Richards’s Farewell, My Lovely and Peter Yates’s The Friends of Eddie Coyle. But it’s an unevenness that’s...

The 1945 war feature “The Story of G.I. Joe”, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Oscar-nominated Robert Mitchum, has been restored and re-mastered for a new Blu-ray/DVD available July 25, 2024 from Ignite Films:

“Through the lens of ‘Pulitzer’-winning ‘Ernie Pyle’, portrayed by Burgess Meredith, witness the everyday grit and bravery of the foot soldier as they navigate the perils of combat in the Italian campaign.

“Joining him is Robert Mitchum in his breakthrough role as ‘Lieutenant Walker’, whose leadership and unwavering dedication to his men inspire hope amidst the chaos of war.

“‘The Story of G.I. Joe’ authentically portrays the camaraderie and bond between soldiers, a timeless tribute to unsung heroes who fought and bled for freedom. Experience the raw emotion and gritty realism of this war drama, beautifully restored in high definition. It’s more than a movie; it’s a testament to the triumph of the human spirit.

George P. Cosmatos' 1993 Western "Tombstone" begins in the year 1879 and ends in 1881 at the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Said gunfight was a notably bloody shootout between the local law enforcers of Tombstone, Arizona and a local gang of criminals nicknamed the Cowboys. The law was represented by the Earp brothers Wyatt, Virgil, and James, and they have gone down as important figures in the history of the American West.

In the movie, Wyatt Earp is played by Kurt Russell, and the old lawman is depicted as a formerly violent man trying to eschew his instincts to shoot others. Wyatt hopes to be peaceful and gentle and live quietly with his common-law wife Sadie (Dana Delaney). Spoiler alert: he's not successful. Indeed, the violence is so brazenly inevitable in Westerns, one wonders why anyone even entertains the thought of giving peace a chance. The potential gunshot victims in...

We can’t get enough of John Mulaney these days.

After winning his third Emmy last year for writing his Netflix stand-up special “Baby J,” where he spoke candidly (and hilariously) about his stint in rehab for addiction, the former “Saturday Night Live” writer has risen from the ashes like a comically witty Phoenix.

In the Emmy race once again this year in multiple categories, most notably for guest comedy actor for his performance in the brilliant episode “Fishes” from FX’s second season of “The Bear” and outstanding talk series for the Netflix live smash “Everybody’s in L.A.”

On this episode of the award-winning Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, Mulaney discusses his experience and perspectives on Los Angeles’ identity, his creative processes, and whether he’ll host the Oscars. Listen below!

Mulaney surprised everyone as the host of the 14th annual Governors Awards, where he killed in the...

Grace Van Dien, most well-known for her role as Chrissy Cunningham in season four of ‘Stranger Things,’ recently spoke candidly about her treatment in Hollywood on a video game streaming platform. In addition to Grace Van Dien’s acting career, she is also a Twitch Streamer known as BlueFille. This is a newer profession, in which people watch and pay people online to play video games. They can also be sponsored by companies to promote products. She later announced on her stream that she had stepped down from acting recently, due to unwanted advances from producers. She alleged that she had been asked to engage in sexual acts to get parts or keep her job. Now, she more frequently streams video games due to the protection that that gives her. According to Variety, she stated, “I get to stay inside my house and play video games and I don’t...

Is it fair to say that "Tombstone" is one of the best Westerns ever made? At the very least, it's definitely one of the best modern Westerns. Directed by George P. Cosmatos, the stylish, violent saga tells the story of Wyatt Earp and the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Kurt Russell and his glorious mustache stars as Earp, with Val Kilmer stealing the entire movie as Earp's sickly buddy, Doc Holliday. The stacked cast also includes Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Dana Delany, Michael Rooker, Billy Zane, Charlton Heston, and a voice cameo from Robert Mitchum.

When you make a Western, certain accoutrements are baked into the material. We're talking pistols, cowboy boots, big ol' hats, and of course, horses. Kurt Russell sat down with Esquire for a career-spanning interview, and during the course of the conversation, the actor fondly recalled his time working with his horse on "Tombstone.

No, life isn’t always like a movie, but if you watch enough of them, you can find a film that often ties into your life.

For John on Sugar Season 1 Episode 6, it was Night of the Hunter, starring Robert Mitchum, because it’s all about betrayal.

Yes, John Sugar was betrayed, but he still has no idea why.

Now that his secret has been revealed for us all to see, we can guess that the observers are being observed and that whoever has Olivia is in a position of power.

It always comes down to power.

Why can’t it ever come down to kindness or compassion? What kind of world do we live in that when push comes to shove, only the nastiest and most self-involved have their way?

That’s probably a question for another day, but it seems like that’s also what Sugar’s kind are trying to understand.