Hollywood blockbusters were shut out at the 44th London Critics’ Circle Awards, as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” both left empty handed while independent films swept the top categories. Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust-set horror-drama won Film of the Year, and Glazer was individually honored with Director of the Year as well. Celine Song’s 2023 Sundance hit “Past Lives,” another Best Picture nominee, won …
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With Apple’s reported $200 million spy comedy “Argylle” (Universal grossing only $18 million, the first February weekend totaled $63 million, down 18 percent from the same weekend in 2023. Through five weekends this year, none have reached $100 million; three grossed under $70 million. By this time last year, two grossed over $100 million and none were less than $70 …
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The social media backlash happened nearly concurrently with the cameo itself when presidential candidate Nikki Haley made a surprise appearance on the February 3 installment of “Saturday Night Live.“ Interrupting a Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) town hall in the cold open, Haley made an age joke about Presidents Trump and Biden, grinned awkwardly while “Trump” made fun of her …
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Jamie Dornan has come a long way since “50 Shades of Grey,” starring in hit films like “Belfast” and “A Haunting in Venice” and leading the Netflix series “The Tourist.” But the actor still remembers the mockery that he endured for starring in the poorly-received adaptations of E.L. James’ bestselling erotic novels. In a recent appearance on the BBC 4 …
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The abrupt cancellation of “Westworld” in late 2022 marked an unceremonious ending for what was once one of HBO’s buzziest series. Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s adaptation of Michael Crichton’s sci-fi novel followed the employees and customers of a futuristic theme park that allowed visitors to immerse themselves in the Wild West, taking out their most violent urges on realistic …
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How do you replace someone as iconic as Brad Pitt? That’s the challenge that Donald Glover found himself facing when he took on the role of John Smith in the Prime Video adaptation of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” which he co-created alongside Francesca Sloane. Glover’s take on the material is considerably more grounded than the 2005 Doug Liman film, but …
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The “Rocky” franchise lost a key player on Friday when Carl Weathers, the actor who will be forever known to many as Apollo Creed, died at the age of 76. Shortly after the news broke, Rocky Balboa himself weighed in on the passing of his longtime boxing foil. In a video posted to his personal Instagram account on Friday night, …
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Tom Hollander might have achieved international stardom as the waspish gay trying to murder Tanya in “The White Lotus” Season 2, but it was a wildly different role that piqued casting director Alexa L. Fogels’s interest in him to play the waspish gay writer at the center of “Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans”: the 2016 adaptation of John Le Carré …
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Leave it to Oz Perkins, the son of “Psycho” star Anthony Perkins, to stir up another cinematic nightmare. The first teaser has been released for Perkins’ so-far-so-mysterious “Longlegs,” out from Neon on July 12, with the director here officially credited as “Osgood Perkins,” also the name of the filmmaker’s grandfather. The horror movie, which centers on an occult killing spree …
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Under executive director Roger Durling, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF, February 7-17, 2024) has thrived by not only mounting a film festival but surfing the awards season wave, programming a ton of onstage interviews with Oscar contenders. Every year, screenwriters, directors, and producers promote their films on panels, and the likes of Kristen Stewart, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Nolan, Ben Affleck, …
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