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Let’s answer this question today, is Mark Wahlberg really a bad actor? If you look at his massive net worth, it sure doesn’t seem like Hollywood thinks so. But people keep asking this question, and it’s worth wondering why. Love him or hate him, Wahlberg has definitely figured out how to win in Hollywood.

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) and Mona Sax (Mila Kunis) | Credits: 20th Century Studios

Between his blockbuster hits, smart business ventures, and sheer determination, he’s built a career that most actors could only dream of. So, let’s dig into how he’s made it to the top, beyond just being talented.

No Other Actor Does It Quite Like Mark Wahlberg!

Let’s be honest, Mark Wahlberg is undeniably talented when it comes to the big screen. Just take a look at his standout performances in films like The Departed, Boogie Nights, or Fear.

Genesis Rodriguez is in talks to join The Night Agent for its third season. Netflix has already approved a third season of the hit show, starring Gabriel Basso as a junior FBI agent caught in a massive conspiracy.

The American actress is best known for her roles in Entourage, Man on a Ledge, Casa de Mi Padre, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, The Last Stand, Tusk, Run All Night, and Lioness. She also provided the voice of Honey Lemon in Big Hero 6.

Rodriguez is expected to be a regular cast member in The Night Agent season three, with filming starting soon in Istanbul and moving to New York early next year. Details about her character are being kept under wraps.

Season two of The Night Agent is set to premiere on Jan. 23. In the new season, Peter Sutherland (Basso) finally gets the chance to work as a Night...

Serendipity seems to follow Ralph Macchio — and it most recently took him to Australia.

In October, Coldplay released the song “The Karate Kid,” and it’s exactly what you think it’s about, down to the lyrics about “Daniel.” That, of course, is the name of the lead character played by Macchio in three “The Karate Kid” movies and six seasons of Netflix’s “Cobra Kai.” After Macchio heard the tune, he shared it on social media — and that’s when Coldplay concocted a plan. Frontman Chris Martin asked Macchio to come to Australia, where they were playing a series of dates, and film the music video. The ruse included bringing the actor on stage to help perform “The Karate Kid.”

“It was just one of those whirlwind things,” says Macchio, who just returned from Down Under. “It’s just a beautiful track. It blew my mind that he wrote the song,...

Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Nick Wechsler (The Boys), Anthony Ingruber (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Aaron Glenane (Danger Close), Carlos Sanson Jr (Legacies), Ana Thu Nguyen (Mortal Kombat 2), Adolphus Waylee (Nautilus), Richard Brancatisano (The Messenger), Marcus Johnson (Talk to Me), and Jake Ryan star in writer/director Luke Sparke’s upcoming sci-fi horror film Primitive War – and while we don’t have a release date for this one just yet, a featurette has just arrived online to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the making of it. You can check that out in the embed above.

An adaptation of Ethan Pettus’ sci-fi military book series, Primitive War is set during the Vietnam War and features American soldiers facing off with dinosaurs! The story follows an elite recon unit known as the Vulture Squad. In 1968, at the height of the Vietnam...

And while Spielberg’s Jurassic Park was not a horror movie, the fact that you are isolated on an island with a bunch of dinosaurs definitely sounds scary. In light of that, we are glad to inform you – if you are a fan of horror movies and dinosaurs – that a new horror movie focused on humans battling dinosaurs is coming soon.

Primitive War might not be a title you’ve heard of or a title that will sweep the box office, but the premise certainly seems interesting and we are certain that horror fans will like the movie, which is coming out next year.

The movie’s first teaser trailer has just been released, and that is what actually inspired this report, in which you are going to see the trailer, as well as get all the necessary information about the movie and its cast and crew. So, if you’re interested,...

“Soldiers in Vietnam encountering dinosaurs… that hasn’t really been done.” That’s the premise behind the upcoming action/horror/sci-fi movie Primitive War, coming soon from writer/director Luke Sparke (Occupation Rainfall, Bring Him To Me). The film adapts author Ethan Pettus’ sci-fi military novel, and the first footage has arrived.

Primitive War is expected sometime in 2025, and a behind the scenes featurette this morning gives us our very first look at the film along with insights from the cast and crew.

Watch the Primitive War behind the scenes footage below and expect more soon.

International sales on the movie are being handled by Film Mode.

Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”), Tricia Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”, “Lucifer”), Ryan Kwanten and Nick Wechsler (“The Boys“) headline Primitive War.

The official synopsis: “Vietnam. 1968. A search and rescue team known as Vulture Squad is sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon.

Dinosaurs and Vietnam War jungle action are both on the agenda in the first footage from “Primitive War” released by producers Sparke Films. The survival thriller stars “Entourage” star Jeremy Piven, Tricia Helfer, Ryan Kwanten and Nick Wechsler.

Written and directed by Luke Sparke, “Primitive War” is adapted from the cult novel of the same name by Ethan Pettus. The story follows Vulture Squad, a recon team sent to a remote jungle valley in 1968 to locate a missing Green Beret platoon, only to find themselves face-to-face with prehistoric predators.

“Primitive War” was filmed on the Gold Coast, Australia, with a mostly local crew, sprawling sets and real jungle locations that add up to a raw, immersive experience.

International sales are handled by Film Mode ahead of the picture’s global release in 2025. “Filming has been pretty darn amazing,” says Kwanten.

In the three-minute featurette, director Sparke recounts his first encounter with Pettus’s novel,...

Exclusive: Jeremy Piven (Entourage), William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia), Tim McInnerny (Gladiator 2) and singer and actress Pixie Lott (Christmas Karma) are due to star in psychological-thriller Past Life.

Film Mode Entertainment has boarded sales on the project, which is aiming to start filming in February 2025 in Manchester, UK.

Past Life follows Jason Frey (Moseley), an investigative reporter who reluctantly agrees to attend a hypnotism event with his pregnant wife Claira (Lott). Under hypnosis, Jason witnesses a murder through the eyes of a psychotic killer. Haunted by what he has seen, Jason partners with the hypnotist (Piven) to use ‘past life regression’ techniques to investigate a series of unsolved murders from the 1980s while unwittingly reawakening a psychotic killer’s tendencies.

Simeon Halligan (The Blood Lands), head of Manchester genre festival Grimmfest, will direct. Pic was written by Halligan, Dean Lines and Ray Bogdanovich (Hounded). UK BritPop band James are producing the score.

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Emily Ratajkowski is one of the most beautiful and sensational actresses in the film industry. The American model and actress made her acting debut in a short film titled Andrew’s Alteration, but it wasn’t until her role as Tasha in iCarly that she became a known figure in Hollywood. After that, she starred in multiple films and TV shows and while most of them are not critical darlings, fans of the actress love her regardless. So, if you love Ratajkowski’s performances and largely erotic thriller films here are the best movies and TV shows starring Emily Ratajkowski you could watch.

10. Welcome Home Credit – Vertical Entertainment

Welcome Home is a thriller drama film directed by George Ratliff from a screenplay by David Levinson. The 2018 film follows a young couple during their stay at a vacation home...

A super-meta, super-prescient skewering of the showbiz world, and in particular, the relatively primitive phenomena of celebrity reality TV, “The Comeback” looked destined for the status of one-season wonder when HBO pulled the plug in 2005. “I was aware that it was mainly straight, white guys who couldn’t watch it,” its star Lisa Kudrow later acknowledged, perhaps explaining how douchebro counterpart “Entourage” — whose ratings it often matched — was allowed to run for eight (plus a truly loathsome film).

Thankfully, after a nine-year period in which the show had been reevaluated as a cult classic, Kudrow and co-creator Michael Patrick King were afforded the opportunity to reintroduce their glorious comic creation, the egotistical yet strangely sympathetic enigma that is Valerie Cherish for a second season. That hurrah ran beginning November 9, 2014, and inspired the very opposite response to her well-worn catchphrase, “I don’t want to see that.”

We’d last seen...

Exclusive: Jeremy Piven drama The Performance, which played the Rome and Palm Springs Film Festival, is heading to the AFM after Alliance Media Partners (Amp) boarded international sales rights.

Gvn Releasing is launching the film domestically in December and January.

The well-reviewed period drama, directed by Shira Piven and inspired by Arthur Miller’s short story, tells the story of Harold May, an American Jewish tap dancer in 1937 Berlin. May and the rest of his troupe are scouted by a German attaché who leads them to an exclusive performance for Hitler, putting May at a complex personal and professional cross-roads.

Entourage actor Piven plays May. The film also features Robert Carlyle, Adam Garcia, Steven Berkoff, and the late Suzanne Shepherd.

As we previously reported, the project reps a long-held passion for the Piven family, whose matriarch and director-teacher-actress Joyce Hiller Piven first read the story in the New Yorker and told her children about it.

Korean actress Song Ji-hyo is swapping the film set for the depths of the season. She is the center of Deep Dive Korea: Song Ji-Hyo’s Haenyeo Adventure, a doc series from BBC Studios and Jtbc.

Across three episodes, Song will free dive with the haenyeo underwater sea fishers, whose tradition has been passed down from generation to generation over 400 years. They risk their lives by plunging up to 20 meters to the seafloor without oxygen masks or advanced equipment to gather shellfish and many of the woman are in their 80s.

Song’s mother was a former swimming athlete, while her aunt was a haenyeo, who usually begin their training at age eight. The actress in now in her 40s and will have to cram in three decades’ of training into just a month.

The doc will see her submerge herself in haenyeo techniques and culture, while taking viewers under...

Exclusive: Debi Mazar (The Insider) will star opposite Jaeden Martell and Luna Blaise in Dirty Finger Nails, the indie drama marking the feature debut of 28-year-old writer-director Kevin Lombardo, which commenced production in New York City earlier this month.

No word on the role to be played by the veteran actress. The film sees lives of three young guys, a homeless man, two cops, a cleaning lady and two best friends become intertwined by means of a mysterious chair. Touching on themes of morality, temptation, and consequence, it challenges the audience to confront their own ethical and moral dilemmas in a world where we all crave certainty.

Others starring in the project, billed as a gritty parable set on New York City’s Lower East Side, include Keith William Richards, Luca Fersko, Dwyer Hall and Jabari Yusuf. Shoichi Murphey and Toby Bird are producing for Harapeko Productions, with Tina Baione...

As “Reykjavik,” a look at a critical summit between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that helped determine the fate of the two superpowers, begins shooting in Iceland this week, the drama has brought on Hope Davis, Branka Katic and Aya Cash. They join the Sk Global feature, which has already lined up an impressive ensemble that includes Jeff Daniels as Ronald Reagan, Jared Harris as Mikhail Gorbachev and J.K. Simmons as Secretary of State George Shultz.

Davis, who appeared on Broadway opposite Daniels in “God of Carnage,” will star as Nancy Reagan. Katic is set to play Raisa Gorbachev, wife of the Soviet leader, and Cash has been tapped to portray a young journalist covering the Reykjavik Summit. Production officially commenced Tuesday on location in Reykjavik, where the cast and crew started filming in and around Höfði House, the actual site of a 1986 meeting that happened as the...

Amber Lancaster returned to work at The Price Is Right, where she helps to present prizes and pricing games with host Drew Carey and announcer George Gray.

She works among the show’s models with co-stars Rachel Reynolds, Alexis Gaube, Manuela Arbelaez, James O’Halloran, and Devin Goda.

As Monsters and Critics reported, Amber was on a brief hiatus from filming the show, celebrating her birthday, and enjoying a gorgeous vacation with her boyfriend.

The 44-year-old is also a mother to a young son, who kept her busy at home during her break.

The Price Is Right has also returned with a new season, bringing back the fan-favorite game show with weekday episodes and occasional primetime specials.

Amber recently shared a series of Instagram posts about getting back to the job and a realization she had about her time there.

Amber Lancaster returns to The Price Is Right and has a career realization

Several days ago,...

Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke and former NFL star Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski have nabbed starring roles in writer/director Tom DeNucci’s sports comedy The Roaring Game.

Also joining the Verdi Productions pic, that just wrapped production, in key roles is William Forsythe (The Devil Rejects) and Vanessa Angel (Kingpin). The Roaring Game centers on Rickey, a high school janitor who loses everything when his girlfriend, Kelly, is selected to play hockey for Team USA and compete in the World Games.

To win her back, Rickey creates a misfit curling team and uses his sweeping skills to compete for gold and complete a comic quest for redemption that captivates the nation.

Rourke is best known for his role in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, which earned him Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. Former New England Patriots tight-end Gronkowski has acting credits that include The Clapper, Entourage, Boss Level and the buddy comedy The Instigators.

Exclusive: Game of Thrones alums Kristofer Hivju and Harry Lloyd have boarded Iris, the Sky thriller from Luther creator Neil Cross.

Hivju will play Jensen Lind, a tortured genius and brilliant scientist, while Lloyd is Hugo Pym, an immaculately composed mystery man who takes on a senior position within The Money, the group that bankrolled lead Cameron McIntyre’s project.

The pair, who played Tormund Giantsbane and Viserys Targaryen respectively in Game of Thrones, are joined in Cross’s series by Marco Leonardi, Angela Bruce (Silver Haze, Doctor Who) and Lorenzo De Moor (A Simple Favor 2, Dolce Fine Giornata). They join the previously announced Tom Hollander and Niamh Algar, who will play the title character and Cameron McIntyre respectively, along with Meréana Tomlinson (The Trials), Sacha Dhawan, Maya Sansa, Peter Sullivan and Debi Mazar (Younger,...

The Singapore outpost of the hotel brand The Standard is set to open in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Located in the city-state’s prestigious Orange Grove Road, and a short walk from the Unesco Botanic Gardens and the famed Orchard Road shopping district, The Standard, Singapore is an eight floor property featuring 143 rooms each with floor-to-ceiling windows.

The hotel, designed by The Standard’s in-house team in collaboration with the Ministry of Design, will also feature Kaya, a Japanese izakaya style bar and restaurant, and on street-level the Café Standard bistro. Both venues will be open to the public.

Backed by high profile investors including Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Benicio del Toro, Andre Balazs established the original Standard Hotel, located on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, in 1999. In 2002, The Standard, Downtown LA, opened in the former Superior Oil Company Building, with the venue becoming a magnet for Hollywood’s...

Exclusive: Sosie Bacon, Amanda Righetti, Janet Montgomery, Stephanie Faracy and Mike Vogel (Sex/Life) have joined the recurring cast of Prime Video’s Scarpetta.

They join the previously announced Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, who will both also executive produce; Bobby Cannavale, Simon Baker, Rosy McEwen, Jake Cannavale and Ariana DeBose.

Based on Patricia Cornwell’s best-selling book series, Scarpetta follows Kay Scarpetta (Kidman), Chief Medical Examiner, as she returns to Virginia and resumes her former position with complex relationships, both personal and professional – including her sister Dorothy (Curtis), with plenty of grudges and secrets to uncover.

Bacon plays Abby Turnball, a prize-winning reporter; Righetti plays Past Dorothy; Montgomery plays Janet, Lucy’s wife; Faracy plays Present Maggie, Scarpetta’s inherited assistant from her predecessor; Vogel plays city attorney Bill Boltz.

The series was officially picked...

Model/actress Emily Ratajkowski ("Gone Girl"), whose published 'essay collection' "My Body", includes a "...self-aware study of the exploitation of women's bodies" poses for Ag Jeans with the capsule collection  'EmRata x Ag', photographed by Oliver Hadlee Pearch:

Ratajkowski's exposure to the female figure in photography, including works by Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts, influenced her to appear in "The "Blurred Lines" music video with Robin Thicke.

This attracted the attention of actor Ben Affleck, who cast her to play his mistress in director David Fincher's 2014 adaptation of the novel "Gone Girl". 

This was followed by an appearance with Taylor Kitsch in the "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" live-action trailer, a co-starring role in the 2015 feature "Entourage"...

...a role in the 2015 miniseries "The Spoils Before Dying", a leading role in the feature "We Are Your Friends" (2015) and a Buick 'Super Bowl' TV spot (2016).

Ratajkowski then appeared in the...

William Fichtner has been cast in AMC’s upcoming series about the Talamasca, the secretive group featured in the works of Anne Rice.

Variety has learned exclusively that Fichtner will join the show in the series regular of Jasper. He will star alongside previously announced series lead Nicholas Denton.

“The Talamasca” was first reported to be in development at AMC in 2023, with the basic cabler formally greenlighting the show in June 2024. AMC has ordered six episodes, with the show set to go into production in Manchester, England next month. It is slated to premiere on AMC and AMC+ in 2025.

The official logline for the show states that it will “focus on the men and women responsible for tracking and containing the witches, vampires, and other creatures scattered around the globe.”

The character Jasper is described as “a mysterious American who has quietly assumed control and influence over the Talamasca’s London Motherhouse.

Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested on Monday and taken into federal custody after a grand jury indictment. According to reports, the arrest was made in connection to the several lawsuits against him. These lawsuits could rip him off by several millions, which could potentially affect his status as one of the youngest billionaires in the music industry.

Sean “Diddy” Combs | Credits: @diddy on Ig

Fortune included him in their list of America’s Richest 40 Under 40 in 2022 and reported his business worth as $293.7 million. Diddy’s income comes from a variety of areas like his own record label deals, properties, brands, and acting.

Diddy’s Record Label Bad Boy Brings Him $130 Million In Business Annually

According to Business Insider, Diddy makes a very handsome $130 million from his record label annually. He initially started collaborating with Uptown Records before establishing Bad Boy Records. Diddy released his debut album No Way Out in...

If you’re in the mood for a classic comedy, Prime Video is a great place to stream. You can get started with a 30-day Free trial, and there’s a lot to love.

30-Day Free Trial $8.99+ / month amazon.com

Classic Comedy Movies on Prime Video

Classic Comedy TV on Prime Video

Add More Comedy with Prime Video Channels

Classic Comedy Movies on Prime Video

For the purposes of this list, we’ll consider “classic comedies” as titles that came out at least 20 years ago.

Death Becomes Her The Big Lebowski Dr. Strangelove Heathers Swingers Galaxy Quest Fargo Billy Madison An American Werewolf in London Sweet Home Alabama Election Army of Darkness Overboard Dirty Rotten Scoundrels American Graffiti Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Bowfinger Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood CB4 Roxanne Sprung Duck Soup Wallace & Gromit: The...

Writer/Director Luke Sparke (Occupation Rainfall, Bring Him To Me) is adapting author Ethan Pettus’ sci-fi military novel Primitive War, testing a military unit’s survival skills against an unlikely enemy: dinosaurs. A new poster and images have been released, introducing the human side of the equation.

The poster, along with images below, teases dino carnage and promises that Primitive War is arriving in 2025.

Jeremy Piven (“Entourage“, Old School), Tricia Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”, “Lucifer”), Ryan Kwanten (“True Blood”, Glorious) and Nick Wechsler (“The Boys“) are set to headline Primitive War.

The official synopsis: “Vietnam. 1968. A search and rescue team known as Vulture Squad is sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon. As they hunt through the primordial depths of the valley, they discover ancient horrors that not only threaten to unravel their minds, but to end their lives as well. Dinosaurs have somehow been unleashed!

Is Blue Bloods prepping not one but two spinoffs? The big casting news for Season 14B seems to hint at that!

For a show that's run 14 seasons and is one of the biggest hits on its network, it's truly amazing Blue Bloods has never gotten a spinoff. Given CBS loves its franchises like FBI and NCIS, one would think it's natural. Heck, Fire Country has only had two seasons and it's getting a spinoff.

A reason may be how Blue Bloods is always focused on the Reagans more than other characters, and it's hard to see a show working without that connection. That family bond has made the show a huge hit, even if the upcoming second half of Season 14 will be the last. 

There have been rumors of a possible spinoff with Donnie Wahlberg even hinting at one, although it may not be about his character, Danny Reagan. An...

I know it doesn’t feel like 2004 was 20 years ago, but it was, which means many great TV shows just turned 20 years old.

Seriously, 2004 is a sneaky good year for new TV premieres. Most of the titles on this list of good TV shows turning 20 years old in 2024 were broadcast hits. The cable networks had a decent market share in the early 2000s, but we’re still a decade before the streaming industry changed the TV game.

At this point in TV history, we’re still seven years before the Game of Thrones premiere. Remember that, please!

Let’s get the list started with the best show of 2004!

Lost 2010 Winter TCA Tour - Day 4 | Frederick M. Brown/GettyImages

Created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof, Lost premiered on ABC in the fall of 2004. The series told the story of a group of survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island.

A Harry Potter films alum is hoping HBO sprinkles a little amortentia over the franchise’s upcoming series adaptation.

Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley in the movies based on J.K. Rowling’s books, recently told our sister site Variety that she’d like to see “more of the development of the relationship between Ginny and Harry” in the forthcoming series.

More from TVLineTVLine Items: Real Housewives Trailer, Harris/Walz Ratings, Trump Town Hall and MoreHouse of the Dragon: George R.R. Martin to Detail 'Everything That's Gone Wrong' With HBO AdaptationRatings: Industry Hits All-Time High With Third Episode of Season 3

Decades-old Spoiler Alert!

Gone Girl" actress Emily Ratajkowski is ‘the face’ of the latest Kurt Geiger Fall/Winter 2024 handbag campaign, showcasing the new ‘Chelsea’ collection, photographed by Laura Coulson:

Ratajkowski's exposure to the female figure in photography, including works by Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts, influenced her to appear in "The "Blurred Lines" music video with Robin Thicke.

This attracted the attention of actor Ben Affleck, who cast her to play his mistress in director David Fincher's 2014 adaptation of the novel "Gone Girl".

This was followed by an appearance with Taylor Kitsch in the "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" live-action trailer, a co-starring role in the 2015 feature "Entourage"...

...a role in the 2015 miniseries "The Spoils Before Dying", a leading role in the feature "We Are Your Friends" (2015) and a Buick 'Super Bowl' TV spot (2016).

Ratajkowski then appeared in the music video "Inseparable", followed by roles in the features "We Are Your Friends...

Ronda Rousey has apologized for her 2013 tweet about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The former Mma fighter shared a statement on social media, expressing her regret over sharing a conspiracy theory video that suggested that the shooting had been staged. “I can’t say how many times I’ve redrafted this apology over the last 11 years,” she wrote. “How many times I’ve convinced myself it wasn’t the right time or that I’d be causing even more damage by giving it.

“But 11 years ago I made the single most regrettable decision of my life,” Rousey continued. “I watched a Sandy Hook conspiracy video and reposted it on Twitter. I didn’t even believe it, but was so horrified at the truth that I was grasping for an alternative fiction to cling to instead.”

Rousey mentioned that she “quickly realized” her mistake and took the tweet down, so...

For the sixth straight Monday, a new and different film is #1 on VOD at both iTunes and Fandango. “Twisters” (Universal), which grossed almost $10 million in theaters last weekend, is the latest summer hit to reach home viewing.

By design or accident, studios have spaced out their releases so every week brings a new top film. Since the VOD debut of “Civil War” back in late May-early June, no film has enjoyed more than a week as #1 on VOD.

As always, the timing for PVOD debuts don’t align with theatrical runs; “Twisters” and “Despicable Me 2” were released later than “Inside Out 2.” That’s no surprise — Universal is usually the quickest to go to PVOD; Disney tested the waters with streaming exclusives and same-day PVOD but now maintains the longest windows. “Inside Out 2” will hit PVOD after its 10th weekend, while it’s still in the theatrical top...

You know, spy movies weren’t always wall-to-wall vacation porn. There was a time when a hero could go undercover and save the world, or at least some microfilm, without trotting all over the globe, trysting in fancy hotels, wrecking pricey cars and drinking top shelf booze. But thanks largely to the blockbuster films of James Bond, tales of subterfuge became synonymous with opulent power fantasies, where the hero is a suave and sophisticated sex god with an unlimited expense account.

Julian Farino’s “The Union” has a different premise. It’s about a secret organization called “The Union,” which, unlike the elitist and bureaucratic FBI and CIA, actually gets all the work done. They don’t recruit Ivy League graduates, they recruit blue collar workers — “Street smarts over book smarts.” In an era where the people running things don’t know how to make anything run, it’s a...

Life peaked in high school for Mike McKenna (Mark Wahlberg), whereas then-sweetheart Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry) managed to escape dead-end New Jersey and travel the world. While he joined the local construction workers union, she joined the Union, a clandestine spy group about whom Roxanne blandly claims, “Half the intelligence community don’t know we exist, and the other half regret finding out.”

A lazy wish-fulfillment fantasy from Netflix’s star-service department, “The Union” is actually the story of a reunion — Mike and Roxanne’s — set against the backdrop of a crisis we’ve seen one too many times in recent spy movies. For Wahlberg, the wish in question is wanting to be James Bond, which will never happen for the Dorchester-born American. And the fantasy is getting to play the next best thing, recruited by former Bond girl Halle Berry.

The movie’s big idea is to shoehorn a...

Among the five people arrested in the Matthew Perry overdose death investigation were a local physician and the actor’s live-in assistant. Then there was Erik Fleming, listed as the TV star’s “acquaintance,” and charged as a middleman in the deadly ketamine scheme.

The Department of Justice described Fleming’s activities as that of a drug dealer, coordinating with Perry’s assistant and Jasveen Sangha, the so-called Ketamine Queen. According to the DOJ, “after discussing prices with [co-defendant Kenneth] Iwamasa, Fleming coordinated the drug sales with Sangha, and brought cash from Iwamasa to Sangha’s stash house in North Hollywood to buy vials of ketamine.” On Oct. 24, 2023, four days before Perry’s death, Fleming at one point informed the assistant that the ketamine was “on its way to our girl,” in reference to Sangha.

Fleming, 54, pled guilty on Aug. 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of...

The stars’ rapport helps retain your interest in a preposterous international caper that has something vaguely to do with justice

Like a good covert operation team, everyone involved in the latest in a long line of expensive yet generally forgettable Netflix action flicks is clear on the mission. They know their role, and what they’re being paid for. Mark Wahlberg, playing to type as a downhome blue-collar guy, enters the movie shirtless. Halle Berry, as a veteran intelligence agent, kicks ass while wearing a Catwoman-esque all-leather uniform. Jk Simmons, as the head of a covert group of working-class secret agents, conveys no-nonsense avuncular authority as only Jk Simmons can. And Julian Farino, director of such shows as Giri/Haji and Entourage, wrings each of the many combat scenes for snappy but never stressful suspense.

The fictional purpose, besides a vague sense of justice, is never totally clear however. Nothing in The Union is subtle,...

Netflix’s The Union sees Mark Wahlberg team up once again with director Julian Farino. Farino directed 23 episodes of HBO’s Entourage, which was loosely based on Wahlberg’s early days in Hollywood and on which the actor was also an executive producer (and occasional guest star). Farino has never directed an action-comedy like this before, while Wahlberg has become extremely comfortable in this arena over the last several years. How does the rekindled partnership fare?

Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg in The Union (2024)/Netflix

RELATEDGirl You Know It’s True Review — A Shocking and Surprising Milli Vanilli Flick

The Union Plot

Construction worker Mike (Wahlberg) lives a simple, yet happy life in his native New Jersey. He still lives with his mother, hangs out with his friends from high school, frequents the same spots around town. It may not be an exciting life, but it’s his. But – and...

Mr. Throwback is a mockumentary-style comedy series created by Adam Pally and David Caspe. The Peacock series follows the story of Danny Grossman, a down-on-his-luck memorabilia salesman who was the top-rated 6th-grade basketball player in the country and also a teammate and friend with NBA legend Steph Curry. When Danny reaches out to Steph Curry, his life takes an unexpected turn. Mr. Throwback stars Adam Pally, Stephen Curry, and Ego Nwodim in the lead roles with Ayden Mayeri, Julian Sergi, Felix Jerry Droz, and Kyle Gibson starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the sports, comedy, and friendship in Mr. Throwback here are some similar shows you could watch next.

The Comeback (Max & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – HBO

The Comeback is a cringe satirical comedy series created by Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King. The HBO series follows the story of Valerie Cherish, a veteran sitcom actor who...

Party Down is one of those comedy shows that very few people know about but those who know it, love it and really appreciate the recent revival. The Starz series follows the story of a group of out-of-work actors in Los Angeles who are trying to earn a living by working in a catering company and still hoping to make it big in the industry. Party Down stars Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Lizzy Caplan, Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr, Jane Lynch, and Megan Mullally. So, if you loved the group dynamics, cringe comedy, and a bit of dark humor in Party Down, here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Corporate (Paramount+ & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Comedy Central

Corporate is a dark comedy series created by Pat Bishop, Matt Ingebretson, and Jake Weisman. The Comedy Central series follows the miserable lives of two downtrodden employees as they die a...

Exclusive: Janet Montgomery (The Ex-Wife) has been cast in the second season of the Paramount+ original drama series 1923 in a recurring role. Montgomery will play Hillary, a thoughtful woman who does not want to see injustice go unpunished.

1923 follows a new generation of Duttons led by patriarch Jacob (Harrison Ford) and matriarch Cara (Helen Mirren). The series explores the early 20th century, when pandemics, historic drought and the end of Prohibition plague the Mountain West and the Duttons who call it home.

Season 1 also stars Brandon Sklenar, Aminah Nieves, Darren Mann, Julia Schlaepfer, Brian Geraghty, Sebastian Roche, Jennifer Ehle, Marley Shelton, Jerome Flynn, Michelle Randolph and Robert Patrick.

As Deadline revealed last month, Dexter alum Jennifer Carpenter was cast in Season 2 of the Taylor Sheridan series. She will recur as ‘Mamie Fossett,’ a highly capable U.S. Deputy Marshall who serves warrants and makes arrests with confidence ahead of her time.

Exclusive: Cameras are rolling on Son of a Critch season 4.

The Canadian comedy was renewed earlier this year for a new 13-part run at public broadcaster CBC and principal photography is now underway in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Based on comedian Mark Critch’s memoir of the same name, the fourth season will follow a 14-year-old Mark, who begins high school on the cusp of the 1990s and once again finds himself on the bottom rung.

The new season will premiere in winter this year on streamer CBC Gem and CBC TV in Canada. Lionsgate Television has rights outside of Canada, and The CW had the previous three seasons in the States. It was officially renewed in May.

“We’re thrilled to roll into the 90s with Mark as he finds his way in high school and are looking forward to sharing this exciting new season with audiences,” said creators,...

A cause of death has been revealed for adult film star Jesse Jane.

Jane died of an accidental fentanyl and cocaine overdose, according to The Oklahoman, which cited the autopsy report released by the Oklahoma state Medical Examiner.

Jane was found dead by police with her boyfriend at their Oklahoma home on January 24. She was 43.

Oklahoma City’s Koco 5 TV channel reported at the time that police officers were conducting a welfare check at a home in Moore, Oklahoma, and found two people unresponsive of suspected overdoses.

Local law enforcement officials identified the dead as Cindy Taylor – Jane’s legal name after marrying, and subsequently divorcing, Rich Taylor; she was born Cynthia Ann Howell – and boyfriend Brett Hasenmueller.

Jane began her porn career in 2002 with an exclusive contract with the Digital Playground studio, where she’d remain through 2014, subsequently signing with Jules Jordan Video. She announced her retirement from the...

The Oklahoma City Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed that former adult film star Jesse Jane and her boyfriend, Brett Hasenmueller, died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl and cocaine, according to reports.

Jane, 43, and Hasenmueller were found dead in their Moore, Oklahoma home in late January. Local police discovered their bodies while conducting a wellness check after the couple had not been heard from for several days.

A drug overdose was suspected as the cause of Jane’s death, but both cases remained under investigation.

Jane, born Cindy Taylor, rose to prominence in the adult film industry in 2003. She appeared in numerous adult productions before transitioning to mainstream media, with roles in Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding, Starsky and Hutch and the HBO series Entourage.

By 2007, Jane had retired from adult films and ventured into entrepreneurship, launching her own line of adult toys.

Industry colleagues remembered Jane for her vibrant personality and professionalism.

Harry Potter is a timeless franchise that will be savored for decades to come. Whether you’re 5, 15, or 50, the books are enough to impress just about anyone, and that’s the magic of Harry Potter. On top of that, the movies are some of the best live-action adaptations out there. All in all, the Wizarding World has made a special place in the fans’ hearts, and no one would like to have that ruined.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) [Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures]However, thirteen years after the release of the last Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part Two, it was announced that the characters would be coming to the small screen soon. Fans who have grown up with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the gang, were initially concerned about the television reboot, fearing it might not live up to the success of the original films and books.

Warner Bros’ Max streaming service has hired Succession, Killing Eve and His Dark Materials writer Francesca Gardiner as showrunner for the forthcoming Harry Potter series.

Gardiner will write and lead the high-profile project and will be executive producer alongside her Succession colleague, Game of Thrones and The Last of Us writer Mark Mylod.

Mylod will direct multiple episodes of the wizarding drama, having also directed the 2022 feature The Menu for Searchlight.

The Harry Potter series was formally announced a year ago during the unveiling of Warner Bros Discovery’s rebranded flagship streamer Max and billed as a “faithful adaptation” of...

The first official trailer for The Union has dropped online, offering a first look at an upcoming spy action comedy-thriller starring 2x Academy Award-nominee Mark Wahlberg and Academy Award-winner Halle Berry (X-Men: Days of Future Past; John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum; Monster's Ball) in the lead roles as a pair of high school sweethearts that reconnect decades later when the world is at threat.

As per the synopsis, "Mike (Wahlberg) is happy living a simple life as a construction worker in his native New Jersey – until his long-lost high school sweetheart, Roxanne (Berry), shows up with more on her mind than romance. Knowing he’s the right man for the job, she recruits Mike on a dangerous intelligence mission in Europe that thrusts them back together into a world of spies and high-speed car chases, with sparks flying along the way."

In addition to Wahlberg and Berry, the supporting cast features Mike Colter,...

The first official trailer for The Union has dropped online, offering a first look at an upcoming spy action comedy-thriller starring 2x Academy Award-nominee Mark Wahlberg and Academy Award-winner Halle Berry (X-Men: Days of Future Past; John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum; Monster's Ball) in the lead roles as a pair of high school sweethearts that reconnect decades later when the world is at threat.

As per the synopsis, "Mike (Wahlberg) is happy living a simple life as a construction worker in his native New Jersey – until his long-lost high school sweetheart, Roxanne (Berry), shows up with more on her mind than romance. Knowing he’s the right man for the job, she recruits Mike on a dangerous intelligence mission in Europe that thrusts them back together into a world of spies and high-speed car chases, with sparks flying along the way."

In addition to Wahlberg and Berry, the supporting cast features Mike Colter,...

HBO’s as-yet-untitled Harry Potter TV series is starting to take shape, with the naming of both its showrunner and a key director.

Francesca Gardiner, whose writing and producing credits include His Dark Materials and Succession, has been set to write and showrun the small-screen adaptation, while Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, Entourage) is locked in to direct multiple episodes.

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“Succession” alums Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod are here for “Harry Potter.” Gardiner has been tapped to serve as showrunner and executive producer of HBO’s upcoming new untitled series based on the “Harry Potter” books, while Mylod is on board to direct multiple episodes, as well as executive produce.

The news was announced Wednesday by HBO and Warner Bros. TV, which are behind the HBO Original series. Both Gardiner and Mylod are already deeply entrenched in the HBO family: Besides “Succession,” Gardiner also worked on “His Dark Materials.” And Mylod is a regular helmer at the pay cabler, having also been on “Game of Thrones,” “The Last of Us” and “Entourage,” in addition to his Emmy-winning work on “Succession.”

Gardiner and Mylod were tapped following an extensive exercise by HBO and Warner Bros. to find the right creative team to steer the “Potter” enterprise. “We’re in conversations with...

The Harry Potter television series is starting to take shape.

Succession duo Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod have signed up as its writer and director, respectively.

This comes four months after Deadline revealed that Gardiner was one of three finalists to win the prize to reboot the classic kids franchise for the small screen. Gardiner beat Tom Moran and Kathleen Jordan to win the gig.

Gardiner, who was a consulting producer on Season 3 and Season 4 of the Brian Cox-led family drama, will serve as showrunner and exec producer, while Mylod, who directed over a dozen episodes of the show, will direct multiple episodes and also exec produce.

It comes after it emerged that Harry Potter was moving from a Max original to an HBO original as part of a strategy rethink at the Warner Bros Discovery business. The series is slated for a 2026 bow.

The series, which is remains in development,...

Martin Landau is the Oscar-winning thespian who enjoyed one of the greatest late career renaissances in cinema history, hitting his stride in his 60’s and remaining active until his death in 2017. Let’s take a look back at 12 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, Landau first came to the attention of movie audiences with a villainous role in Alfred Hitchcock‘s “North by Northwest” (1959). He became a television star playing Rollin Hand on “Mission: Impossible,” for which he received three consecutive Emmy nominations as Best Drama Actor (1967-1968) and a Golden Globe victory in 1968.

After decades of bit roles in B-movies and guest spots on TV (including playing a bad guy on “Columbo”), Landau enjoyed a major career comeback thanks to Francis Ford Coppola‘s “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” (1988), for which he won the Golden Globe and earned his first...

Welcome to My Favorite Scene! In this series, IndieWire speaks to actors behind a few of our favorite television performances about their personal-best onscreen moment and how it came together.

Editor’s note: The following interview contains spoilers for Netflix’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

Much like her character in Netflix’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Carla Gugino is an actor who feels like she’s everywhere.

From her film work in “Gerald’s Game,” “Spy Kids,” “Watchmen,” and more, to TV roles dating back to “Saved by the Bell” through “Entourage” and as recent as “The Girls on the Bus” on Max (I had to spare a few moments of our interview to bring up Greg Berlanti’s “Political Animals”), Gugino feels as powerful, versatile, and ubiquitous as Verna, the shape-shifting devil puppeteering the eponymous fall.

But even with more than 20 years in the...