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Remember the 1980s? The decade of big hair, neon everything, and VHS tapes taking over the video shop. Aside from the flashy pop culture, this was also a great time for thrilling, edge-of-your-seat movies. The 1980s provided a wealth of classic 80s thrillers that redefined what it meant to feel suspenseful rather than just keeping viewers wondering. From dark crime dramas to mind-bending 1980s suspense movies that made your heart race, this era became the best place for directors who wanted to try new things and moviegoers who wanted to be shocked.

Why did the best 80s thriller movies come out at such a great time? The genre wasn’t just one thing but a wide range of movies. It had dark, twisty psychological thrillers that peeled back the layers of the mind (think Fatal Attraction), gritty crime sagas dripping with danger, and every once in a while, a heart-pounding story inspired by true events.

On Nov. 25, 1992, Warner Bros. unveiled the Kevin Costner-Whitney Houston drama The Bodyguard in theaters. The R-rated, 129-minute film went on to become a blockbuster, grossing more than $400 million globally. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review of the feature is below:

That joke about Al Gore and how you distinguish him from a roomful of Secret Service agents — “he’s the stiff one” — wouldn’t hold here.

Kevin Costner plays the uptightest of security dweebs who gets unloosened by the seductive charms of his superstar client (Whitney Houston). An old-fashioned opposites-attract love story, this Tig production should secure Warner Bros, a hefty boxoffice ransom as a Saturday night date special.

Costner has tightened the knot in his natural-athlete, mid-American persona: He’s Mr. Potatoheaded his hair and gruffed up his delivery for the role of Frank Farmer, former centurion for two presidents and now independent security agent.

He could...

November is here, and with sunset falling sooner and sooner, what better way to spend your down time than snuggled up on the couch watching a great movie? A bevy of films are newly streaming in November and we’ve rounded up a curated list of the best ones added to Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock and beyond this month.

Check out our picks for the best new movies streaming in November 2024 below.

“Music by John Williams” “Music by John Williams” (Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.)

Disney+ – Nov. 1

John Williams is the elder statesman of film music. His scores conjure memories and transport you to different times and places. Just think about what he’s contributed over the years, from “Jaws” to “Star Wars” to “Indiana Jones” to “Harry Potter” to “Jurassic Park” to “Home Alone.” Even lesser-known scores crackle with intensity, technical proficiency and creative flair (think Brian De Palma...

Lionsgate has picked up the adult comedy Rager to be directed by Jon Kasdan, who also wrote the screenplay with Dan Klein.

The script is under wraps, but the Imagine Entertainment project is produced by Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody and Allan Mandelbaum, with Justin Wilkes to executive produce.

Kasdan co-wrote Solo: A Star Wars Story alongside his father, Lawrence Kasdan, and is the writer and showrunner for Willow on Disney+. He also wrote and directed The First Time and In the Land of Women. Before that, Kasdan worked as a writer for the Freaks and Geeks TV series and acted in Dawson’s Creek and Dreamcatcher.

Klein’s credits include Miracle Workers on TBS and Wet Hot American Summer. For its part, Lionsgate has had success with Knives Out, the last two John Wick movies, relaunching the Hunger Games franchise with The Battle of Songbirds & Snakes and the latest installment in the Saw franchise.

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

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

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Mick Jackson's "The Bodyguard" is one of the lousiest blockbusters ever made. It's no secret why the film, which grossed a stunning $411 million globally ($924 million in 2024 dollars) on a $25 million budget, caught on with audiences: Kevin Costner playing the Steve McQueen-esque guardian of Whitney Houston, who belts out her biggest hit ever at the end of the movie ("I Will Always Love You"), was just a crazy zeitgeisty combination of superstars in 1992. Even though the B+ Cinemascore indicates it didn't hit the sweetest of spots with moviegoers, the hook and that song proved irresistible.

So what if the R-rated action-romance played like the chastest Adrian Lyne movie ever made, or the 17-year-old screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan was a by-the-numbers bore? Did it matter that Costner and Houston had absolutely zero chemistry, or that critics generally abhorred the film?...

Late last week, we learned that Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy have turned to Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg to write and produce a new Star Wars trilogy.

There have been conflicting reports about whether these movies will serve as Episodes 10, 11, and 12 in the Skywalker Saga. However, most outlets have since confirmed they won't be a continuation of that story.

According to a new piece from Variety (via SFFGazette.com), the news came as a surprise to executives at Lucasfilm and Disney, but is "considered internally to be in deep development and not nearly ready to be made public." In other words, this could be another announced Star Wars project that fails to ever come to fruition.

The trade acknowledges that many in the industry were shocked by Kinberg's hiring, particularly as his track record as a writer is spotty at best.

Despite that, his history working on franchises means "Kinberg...

Writer-producer Simon Kinberg is working on a new Star Wars trilogy, said to be Episodes X-xii, but reports also highlight how far off it’s likely to be.

As we’ve recently explored on these pages, Lucasfilm has spent the past five years announcing Star Wars films and then not making them. With the exception of TV spin-off The Mandalorian And Grogu, due in cinemas in 2026, precisely none of the movies announced by the studio in recent years have gone into production. Big names have been attached – Patty Jenkins, Taika Waititi, Shawn Levy and the like – but little else of substance has emerged.

To the list of names on Lucasfilm’s roster we can now add Simon Kinberg – the multi-hyphenate filmmaker whose addition to the Star Wars franchise was announced on the 7th November. The word is that Kinberg, best known for his work on the X-Men film series, is...

When news broke on Thursday that Simon Kinberg — best known for being a writer, producer, director or all of the above on much of the “X-Men” franchise — had been hired by Lucasfilm to write and produce a new “Star Wars” trilogy, it came as a surprise to many executives at Lucasfilm and Disney. The project is considered internally to be in deep development and not nearly ready to be made public.

There was also some surprise within the wider industry that Lucasfilm had turned to Kinberg as the newest steward of “Star Wars” on the big screen. According to multiple industry sources with experience working in the franchise space, Kinberg is seen on one level as a sensible and safe choice. Starting with 2005’s “XXX: State of the Union” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” his films as a screenwriter have grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide. Beyond the “X-Men” films, he’s also produced “Cinderella,...

Plot: From his early days as a jazz pianist to his 54 Oscar® nominations and five wins, the documentary takes an in-depth look at Williams’ countless contributions to film including many iconic franchises, as well as his music for the concert stage and his impact on popular culture. The film features interviews with artists and filmmakers whose lives have been touched by his timeless music.

Review: There is no one like John Williams. From Star Wars to Superman to Jurassic Park to Harry Potter and beyond, Williams has left an indelible mark on the landscape of cinema and music in general. In his nineties, John Williams became synonymous with movie soundtracks thanks to his collaborations with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and several other filmmakers and film franchises. The new documentary Music By John Williams, directed by the composer’s longtime friend and documentarian Laurent Bouzereau, is an ode to Williams’ creative...

Even in its 36th season, The Simpsons is still finding ways to keep fans engaged. First it was the fake-out series finale season premiere, then we got an episode that randomly brought back a character who most fans totally forgot existed, and now, well, it’s unclear.

Producer Al Jean recently posted an image from this coming Sunday’s episode, intriguingly suggesting that it will “solve a mystery” that’s been puzzling him “since the beginning of the show.” Presumably he’s not referring to the unsolved case of Smithers’ fluctuating skin color.

And Jean had previously teased that, after the next episode, “you’ll never look at Springfield the same way again.”

Fans have been trying to figure out the mystery of whatever mystery he’s referring to. The image he includes seemingly depicts a young Grampa Simpson talking with an unidentified woman that resembles a young Agnes Skinner.

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Stephen King is wildly prolific. That may be an understatement but it's still worth pointing out. Not only does the man have an impressive level of output, but King's stuff is consistently very popular. As such, for virtually as long as he's been a writer, his works have been adapted for the screen, both big and small. Sometimes that goes well, with King being particularly fond of "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand By Me," as a couple of examples. Naturally, Hollywood being Hollywood, those adaptations aren't going to work sometimes. For his part, King was willing to call at least one of them an outright trainwreck.

In a 2007 interview with Time, King was asked about quality control as it relates to adaptations of his work. For starters, the author made it clear that he doesn't generally maintain a lot of control in that department.

For all its scandals and complexities, Yellowstone has done one thing right by resurrecting the Western career of Kevin Costner. The actor has been in love with the idea of the Old West more than his own survival (how else can one explain the decision to fund his savings and assets into a failing project). But money can only go so far before the intended audience finds out their cinematic taste is better invested elsewhere.

Kevin Costner as Wyatt Earp in the 1994 film [Credit: Warner Bros.]

In the case of Horizon: An American Saga, Costner isn’t left with much choice but to let his creativity and passion out. The four-part Western chronicle is a genre within a genre – it calls back to the expansive American Midwest on the big screen while also serving as a long-form style of storytelling in film. As such, if the Western fails to resonate with viewers,...

In the wild world of Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan crafted some epic drama that had everyone talking. But did you know he took inspiration from The Godfather to keep Kevin Costner away from one actor? Yep! Sheridan, channeling some serious mob boss vibes, knew how to play the game behind the scenes.

Taylor Sheridan in Yellowstone | Paramount Pictures

As the tensions on set rose, he drew from that iconic film’s intense family dynamics, creating a unique atmosphere that kept the cast on their toes. By making strategic choices about who Costner interacted with, Sheridan ensured the show’s fiery energy never fizzled out.

Sheridan’s Strategic Move: Keeping Costner and Lucas Separate for Authentic Duttons Kevin Costner as John Dutton in Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount

In the intricate web of Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan took a page from The Godfather to keep Kevin Costner away from Josh Lucas. Yep, you read that right!

John Williams has composed some of the greatest pieces of music in the history of cinema. From Jaws to Star Wars to Indiana Jones, his multiple collaborations with other Hollywood legends like Steven Spielberg have resulted in a plethora of instantly recognizable pieces of music that have inspired generations of filmmakers, writers, and actors.

Williams’ career in the movie business has spanned over fifty years, netting him several Emmy, BAFTA, and Academy Awards. To celebrate the maestro’s monumental achievements, The Walt Disney Company has commissioned a new documentary that will premiere very soon on Disney+.

“Music by John Williams”, directed by Laurent Bouzereau and produced in part by Spielberg, will feature “…interviews with Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Kate Capshaw, Gustavo Dudamel, J.J. Abrams, Chris Martin, Ron Howard, Chris Columbus, George Lucas, Itzhak Perlman, Lawrence Kasdan, Yo-Yo Ma, Ke Huy Quan, James Mangold, Alan Silvestri, David Newman, Thomas Newman,...

Oscar winner John Williams is the subject of a new documentary coming to Disney Plus. “Music by John Williams” from Lucasfilm Ltd, Amblin Documentaries, and Imagine Documentaries, which offers a fascinating and insightful look at the prolific life and career of the legendary composer, will hit the streamer and have a limited theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles, and London on November 1. The documentary will also open the 38th edition of AFI Fest on October 23. Watch the trailer below.

From his early days as a jazz pianist to his 54 Oscar nominations and five wins, the documentary takes an in-depth look at Williams’ countless contributions to film, including many iconic franchises, as well as his music for the concert stage and his impact on popular culture. The film features interviews with artists and filmmakers whose lives have been touched by his timeless music. Directed by award-winning filmmaker and best-selling author Laurent Bouzereau,...

How can you put into a few words the ineffable career of John Williams? It's hard to even imagine, but the newest documentary about the maestro Music By John Williams will try. The feature will look at the career of the greatest film composer of all time when it streams on Disney+ on November 1.

The official trailer showcases people who have worked with Williams for decades such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Kathleen Kennedy to discuss their long time friend. "Star Wars would basically not be Star Wars without Johhny Williams' music," Lucas says in the trailer while the main theme of the franchise billows in the background.

"The minute John raises his baton and plays the first theme," Kennedy shares, "You just go, 'Oh my God! Here's another one!'" This is true as Williams has defined generations worth of movies and TV shows. Besides Star Wars, he...

Actor Jim Caviezel has been in the business since the early ‘90s. While he gained notoriety as an able supporting actor, he hit it big with The Thin Red Line and went on to perform in his most famous role to date The Passion of the Christ. The actor’s struggles while filming Mel Gibson’s Biblical epic is nothing short of a pop culture legend.

Caviezel has worked with a host of acclaimed filmmakers over the years. While he had early roles in Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp and Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, he gained prominence when he worked with the likes of Terrence Mallick, Ang Lee, and Tony Scott. Here are ten of his best roles in film and TV.

1. Person of Interest

Jonathan Nolan’s post-9/11 surveillance drama is one of the best-rated shows in TV history. It follows the story of ex-...

Star Wars might not have had a lot of fan support these past few years. However, the films still managed to rake in a lot of money at the box office, remaining one of Dinsey’s most lucrative franchises. However, there was one film that never managed to be the bee’s knees for the franchise, despite George Lucas’ involvement in the project.

Solo: A Star Wars Story || Credit: Disney

Solo: A Star Wars Story, the second installment of the Star Wars Anthology series of films that Disney shelved, had the lowest box office numbers of a Star Wars film, largely due to factors like not wanting the film to compete with Infinity War’s marketing cycle. However, George Lucas’ involvement should have at least merited a better environment for the film to be nurtured in.

It was George Lucas who came up with the idea of making a Solo...

Stephen King has become somewhat famous for his contribution to horror literature. Thanks to a long series of terrifying novels, King has become a genre unto himself, authoring tales like "Carrie," "Christine," "It," "Pet Sematary," "The Stand," "The Dead Zone," "Firestarter," "Cujo," "Misery," and dozens of others. He often tells tales of alcoholic authors (something he admits he can relate to) or other not-entirely-redeemable protagonists dealing with supernatural evil in one for or another. King is widely beloved for his storytelling acumen, and his dogged pursuit of his own unusual interests. For the most part, horror is where his heart has lived, and he still writes ghost stories and tales of regret to this day. 

But perhaps King should stay far away from science fiction. When the antagonist of a Stephen King story is a malevolent spirit, a killer dog, a demonic living corpse, or a child-eating clown, he is in his wheelhouse.

Clifford is an extraordinary movie, and no, I’m not talking about the one with the big red dog, but rather the one where a nearly forty-year-old Martin Short plays a psychotic ten-year-old. The film is a simple one, telling the story of a young boy who is forced to stay with his uncle while his parents are on a business trip in Honolulu, but it is positively weird, full of unhinged dark comedy, slapstick, and extremely quotable moments. I still pull out, “Look at me like a human boy!” on a semi-regular basis. The film certainly isn’t for everyone, but Martin Short always believed it would be appreciated.

“I never saw any of these things that didn’t work out with the public as failures. [1994 comedy co-starring Charles Grodin] Clifford is a perfect example,” Short told THR. “That was a film that the critics hated, and no one saw but I thought was fabulous.

AFI Fest will feature a lot of music by John Williams.

Laurent Bouzereau’s new documentary, Music by John Williams, is set to have its world premiere on opening night of the 2024 edition of the Los Angeles film festival, which will be presented by new exclusive sponsor Canva with additional support from Fiji Water. The 38th AFI Fest kicks off Oct. 23 and runs through Oct. 27 at Hollywood’s Tcl Chinese Theatres.

Hailing from Lucasfilm, Amblin Documentaries and Imagine Documentaries, Music by John Williams is billed as comprehensive look at the life and legendary career of the prolific composer who has been nominated for 54 Oscars and won five. In 2016, he was presented with an AFI Life Achievement Award, which made him the first composer to receive the honor. Williams, now 92, has so many credits on his résumé (hundreds) that there’s not enough space to fit them all here. But he...

“Music by John Williams,” a documentary chronicling the life and accomplishments of legendary Oscar-winning composer John Williams, will open AFI Fest, the American Film Institute announced Thursday.

The film will hold its world premiere at the 38th annual festival on Oct. 23. It will then have a limited theatrical run before dropping Nov. 1 on Disney+.

Produced by Lucasfilm, Amblin Documentaries and Imagine Documentaries, “Music by John Williams” is described as “a comprehensive look” at Williams’ prolific life and career. From his early days as a jazz pianist to his 54 Oscar nominations and five wins, the doc spotlights Williams’ contributions to the moving image arts, music for the concert stage and impact on popular culture.

Featured in the doc are interviews with Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Kate Capshaw, Gustavo Dudamel, J.J. Abrams, Chris Martin, Ron Howard, Chris Columbus, George Lucas, Itzhak Perlman, Lawrence Kasdan, Yo-Yo Ma, Ke Huy Quan, James Mangold,...

“The Long Goodbye,” “Home Alone,” “Harry Potter,” “Star Wars,” “Jurassic Park” — these are just a few of the legendary films composer and conductor John Williams has scored throughout his 72 (!) year career. At the 95th Academy Awards in 2023, he became the oldest Oscar nominee in any category for his work on Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” then beat that record again the following year, being nominated in Best Original Score for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” This is in addition to his other 52 Academy Award nominations and five wins. To honor his storied career, Lucasfilms Ltd., Amblin Documentaries, and Imagine Documentaries have joined forces to produce the documentary, “Music by John Williams,” which will have its world premiere on Wednesday, October 23 at the 38th edition of AFI Fest presented by Canva.

The documentary aims to celebrate the life and legacy of John Williams, his countless contributions to the medium of film,...

The American Film Institute has announced that Music By John Williams, a documentary on the iconic film composer from Lucasfilm Ltd, Amblin Documentaries and Imagine Documentaries, will world premiere as the opening night film of the 38th AFI Fest on Wednesday, October 23.

Directed by Laurent Bouzereau, the doc is billed as a comprehensive look at Williams’ life and career, from his early days as a jazz pianist to his 54 Oscar nominations and five wins, celebrating his countless contributions to the moving image arts, music for the concert stage as well as his indelible impact on popular culture.

One of the most influential film composers in history, who in 2016 became the first to receive AFI’s Life Achievement Award, Williams’ work spans top-tier franchises like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and Jurassic Park, as well as such classic one-offs as Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Schindler’s List. Over the course of his career,...

Contrary to recent usage of the word “weird” as a pejorative, it was years of being weird at work that brought Martin Short the adoration and respect of pretty much the entire funny-people community, not to mention a big house in the Palisades and a vacation compound in his native Canada. As Short will attest, a slightly off-kilter affect is at the heart of his artistry and appeal, as evidenced by the delightful oddballs like Ed Grimley and Jackie Rogers Jr. he played on Sctv, and his starring role in Clifford, the 1994 comedy that was panned upon release but later reassessed as dementedly genius. “Most of the odd, weird stuff I’ve done, I love,” Short says. “I think, like Sctv, they’ll stand the test of time.”

Now, at the improbable age of 74, Short is more commercially successful than he’s ever been, in no small part thanks to...

The legacy of Kurt Russell is immutable in its scale and grandeur. The actor who worked with Walt Disney melted the hardened emotions of Charles Bronson and developed a lifelong friendship with the Hollywood giant was a force of his own. The on-screen legacy of the actor, from Westerns to Marvel to Monsterverse stands as a calling card of a movie star who is as relevant in his 70s as he was in his teens.

Kurt Russell [Photo by Los Angeles Times, licensed under Cc By 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]

Somewhere along his route to the peak of Hollywood’s Olympus, Russell crossed paths with numerous movie stars in the making and others in their third acts. Kevin Costner, the parable of the 80s and 90s, was one such star whose presence influenced Kurt Russell’s career as much as Russell impacted his.

The Intertwined Legacy of Kurt Russell & Kevin Costner

In the early ‘half of the 1960s, Kurt Russell carved...

The original Star Wars trilogy remains one of the most popular pieces of fictional media. The original trilogy concluded with Return of the Jedi, which saw Luke Skywalker and his friends defeat the Empire and the former redeemed his father. However, the iconic film had to operate under an entirely different title.

Return of the Jedi marked the conclusion of the original Star Wars trilogy (Credit: Lucasfilm).

During an interview, the film’s production designer Jim Bloom revealed why the third installment in the trilogy underwent a title change. Bloom explained how the franchise’s popularity pose logistical issues to the final installment of the original trilogy and here why the film was produced under a different title.

Return of the Jedi Had to Film Under a False Title For One Messed-up Reason

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi was directed by Richard Marquand and flew into...

"Tombstone" may now be considered one of the most beloved Westerns of the late twentieth century, but the film had an incredibly rocky path from the page to the big screen. "Tombstone" was intended to be the directorial debut of "Glory" screenwriter Kevin Jarre, but when he fell behind schedule a month into the shoot, producer Andrew Vajna fired him and brought in veteran helmer George P. Cosmatos ("Rambo: First Blood Part II" and "Leviathan") to ostensibly drag the movie to the finish line.

We've since learned that, after Jarre's departure, the driving creative force on "Tombstone" was star Kurt Russell. Cast as legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, Russell brought a semblance of order to the wayward production by streamlining the lengthy screenplay with producer Jim Jacks. His instincts proved plenty sharp. By foregrounding the unlikely friendship forged between Earp and the tuberculosis-stricken gambler/gunman Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer in one...

Long before Kevin Costner ever set foot onto the Yellowstone Ranch or danced with wolves, he became a rising star with Lawrence Kasdan’s Silverado!

The Story: Fresh off a five year stint in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Emmett (Scott Glenn), a cowboy, heads to a small town called Silverado to pick up his kind-hearted but deadly younger brother, Jake (Kevin Costner), picking up a gambler, Paden (Kevin Kline) and a black cowboy named Mal (Danny Glover) along the way. Once in Silverado, they realize the town is being ruled by Emmett’s old nemesis, who’s in-league with a former friend of Paden’s – the town sheriff – Cobb (Brian Dennehy). Eager to settle down, all four men find themselves challenged by the ruthless factions that run the town, and will have to unite to save the day.

The Players: Starring: Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner,...

Kevin Costner got his breakthrough in the industry with many successful hits in the late 80s that made him a household name. After appearing in various roles in films like Chasing Dreams, Table for Five, and Silverado, Costner gained prominence as the lead of Brian de Palma’s crime drama The Untouchables.

Kevin Costner as Lt. John J. Dunbar in Dances With Wolves | Orion Pictures

The actor’s star power rose with the back-to-back successes of No Way Out, Field of Dreams, and Bull Durham. After that, Costner wanted to write and direct a passion project that he had, which ultimately became 1990’s Dances With Wolves. However, that meant turning down another high-profile film that would have paid him an insane paycheck he could have only dreamt of.

Kevin Costner Turned Down The Hunt for Red October To Make Dances With Wolves

Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery led the spy...

John Travolta’s acting genius is now known to many; however, with a string of success always comes its fair share of setbacks, which even the Grease actor was not immune to. The 1990s were not kind to the actor after a series of box office failures such as Two of a Kind, The Experts, and Perfect.

John Travolta in Pulp Fiction || Miramax Films

Whatever he tried at this point in his career was leading to failure and box-office disasters. But this one movie, directed under the brilliance of Quentin Tarantino, proved to be a career-saving move for Travolta.

How did Quentin Tarantino save John Travolta’s failing Hollywood career?

While many wondered, it was a miracle in itself that Travolta was even getting cast after his back-to-back debacles; however, Quentin Tarantino had other plans for the actor and approached him for his crime movie Pulp Fiction (1994).

John Travolta and...

Here's a classic from Hollywood's "Nobody Knows Anything" files (a three-word bit of industry wisdom coined by "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" screenwriter William Goldman in his book "Adventures in the Screen Trade").

You didn't need to know much of anything about the film business in the fall of 1992 to predict the box office success of Mick Jackson's "The Bodyguard." Kevin Costner was at the height of his movie stardom coming off the previous year's "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and "JFK," while his co-star Whitney Houston (making her big-screen acting debut) was one of the most popular recording artists on the planet. The film would have to be an all-time turkey to fall short of profitability.

Based on a 17-year-old screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, "The Bodyguard" underwhelmed critics, but connected strongly enough with its target audience to pull in $122 million at the domestic box office (on a reasonable $25 million budget). The film,...

Kevin Costner has been defying the odds for more than 40 years.

After filming numerous flashback scenes for 1983’s The Big Chill, the movie that was poised to be his big break, he learned he had been cut out of the film entirely… but then that film’s director, Lawrence Kasdan, decided to give him another shot, casting him in a plum part in 1985’s Silverado, which made him a star.

Not long after, as a burgeoning A-lister, he was warned to avoid baseball movies because they rarely did business at the box office… but then he decided to make two of them within a year of each other, 1988’s Bull Durham and 1989’s Field of Dreams, and both turned out to be blockbusters.

More recently, after decades in the spotlight, his big screen career was flagging, and he signed up to star on a television series that would air on...

Editor’s note: This review was originally published May 19, when the movie world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It hits theaters beginning today in previews before going wide Friday.

There can be no doubt if there is one person bound and determined to keep Hollywood’s long history of Westerns alive, it has been Kevin Costner. Ok, well Clint Eastwood too.

And that has been true right from the beginning of Costner’s career, when he played the freewheeling scene stealer Jake in Lawrence Kasdan’s Silverado in 1985. He also made an impression as the title star of 1994’s Wyatt Earp. But his real mark on the genre has been not just as an actor but also as director and producer behind the scenes, first with his Best Picture Oscar-winning 1990 pic Dances with Wolves and 2003’s terrific Open Range with co-star Robert Duvall. For the past few seasons he...

Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1Image: Warner Bros.

In this column, I write about actors and directors who have worked together on at least three films, preferably without sequels in the mix. It’s a framework I chose in part because so many filmmakers on either side of the...

Kevin Costner co-writes, directs and stars in Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1. Here’s our review of the new western.

You’ll probably find a more reliable review of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 out there if we’re being blunt here. This is my Marvel. Kevin Costner’s never been involved in a western I’ve not liked, and many of them I outright love. His return to the saddle – not least to the director’s chair too, for the first time since the superb Open Range (2003) – has famously come about because he had to pay for it himself. And when you’re paying the bill, you can do things you want you want to.

Which is what Kevin Costner has done, signing off every last shot, with not a Hollywood executive sitting on his shoulder.

Directing, co-writing (with Jon Baird) and taking on the lead role, the setup...

Mild spoilers ahead for the first four episodes of "Star Wars: The Acolyte".

Akira Kurosawa's work has been a cornerstone of "Star Wars" since the very beginning. George Lucas's original synopsis for "Star Wars" was, in large part, just the synopsis of Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" with the Japanese names crossed out and the science fiction names of "Star Wars" filled in. The story evolved from there, adding in more swashbuckling and "Flash Gordon" influences. Throw in some "Thx-1138" and "American Graffiti" and you get a world that only George Lucas could have blended up. 

From that point forward, Kurosawa has been a major influence on virtually all of the "Star Wars" movies and TV shows. In press events leading up to its release, Lawrence Kasdan cited Kurosawa's "High and Low" as a key reference to "The Force Awakens." Director Rian Johnson clearly loved "Rashomon" and pulled its...

Those look for a libido-juicing kick at this year’s Cannes Film Festival surely found it in “Motel Destino,” the sexually explicit erotic thriller from Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz.

Competing in the main competition once again after “Invisible Life” and “Firebrand,” Aïnouz returned to his native Brazil to shoot this perverse psychosexual triangle about the owners of a sex motel along the country’s northeastern Atlantic coast, and the criminal drifter who disrupts their lives. The wild-haired Dayana (Nataly Rocha) operates the Motel Destino with her abusive husband Elias (Fábio Assunção), where she takes up an unhinged affair with Heraldo (Iago Xavier), and amid nonstop sucking and fucking, plot to kill Elias in the grand tradition of the great noirs. Except it’s a noir with a post-Hays Code, liberated twist that has rocked Cannes with its strong, pervasive sexual content, to use the language of the American Motion Picture Association’s ratings board.

Irvin Kershner-directed The Empire Strikes Back from the Star Wars franchise is one of the highly recognized movies but it has a lot of behind-the-screen moments that would reshape the very outline of the movie. Thanks to the mastermind behind the franchise, George Lucas fans got the best treatment from the 1980 movie.

Yoda. Credit: 20th Century Studios

The Empire Strikes Back has undergone several changes before reaching the final product. Written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan from the story developed by Lucas had different plans for the iconic character, Yoda who would later make several appearances throughout the Star Wars franchise.

George Lucas’ Original Plan For Yoda Was Different

Jedi Master Yoda. Credit: 20th Century Studios

Legendary filmmaker and the father of the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas, had a different plan for Yoda— a small, green humanoid alien and a Jedi Master— and that would have potentially...

Nihilism and neon-popped lust collide in Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz’s Portuguese-language “Motel Destino,” set in a love motel so sordid that lay tourists should best avoid it, and only criminals and castaways are likely to check in. The “Invisible Life” director’s steamy psychosexual thriller set in the sweatiest armpit of the equator speaks melodrama and noir but with a Brazilian accent, Aïnouz returning to his home state of Ceará to shoot on his own turf for the first time in five years. The writer/director lifts from classics such as Lawrence Kasdan’s “Body Heat” and Billy Wilder’s “Double Indemnity” but also from ‘70s Brazilian sex comedies to tell a perverse yarn of extramarital betrayal turned murderous. But while the pre-“Body Heat” noirs he’s channeling could only suggest rather than spell out sex, Aïnouz goes graphic — and relentlessly — in an arthouse-only erotic genre piece that...

The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont was once approached to write a Star Wars film for George Lucas. The Star Wars director was not the best at writing dialogue and tried seeking outside help for the same. However, Darabont couldn’t go through with the negotiations to write Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The Green Mile director explained that he couldn’t affiliate himself with the project since it was a non-guild job.

A still from George Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | Lucasfilm Ltd.

George Lucas exited the DGA, WGA, and MPA in 1980 after they fined his film The Empire Strikes Back for breaking the rules. During the prequel trilogy, Lucasfilm refused to become a signatory to any of these guilds, making it difficult for Darabont to accept the writing job.

The Shawshank Redemption Director Couldn’t Work For George Lucas...

Star Wars – one of the many phenomena that forever changed the landscape of pop culture in modern history – has brought us stories of unbridled joy, hope, love, friendship, camaraderie, candor, optimism in the face of utter loss, and resolution in the face of utter despair. And yet, there remain aspects of the narrative that are as mysterious today as they were 47 years ago.

After the first chapter of the story premiered with Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, George Lucas established a new dynasty belonging to new-age superheroes who defied the rules and boundaries of this universe to achieve heroic deeds that resound throughout the entire galaxy.

The Star Wars gang [Credit: Lucasfilm/20th Century Studios]Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo would then go on to be names that inspired indelible virtue, bravery, and strength of moral character for generations to come just as much as Darth Vader...

In October 2012, Disney dropped a bombshell, announcing their acquisition of Lucasfilm and the entire Star Wars universe. Along with that, they also revealed they’ve also snagged a treatment for Episodes VII-ix directly from the mastermind himself, George Lucas. Yet, amidst the chaos, it was the Star Wars fans who were confused the most.

George Lucas [Photo: Joey Gannon/Wikimedia Commons]As it wasn’t a secret that Lucas was content to bid farewell to Star Wars after Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He had no intentions of making a seventh installment. Thus, this left room for many to speculate. And the questions raised: Did Lucas’ vision shape the new era of the saga, or did Disney chart a different course entirely?

George Lucas Didn’t Want to Make Star Wars: Episode VII!

Nearly a decade back, on CBS’ iconic 60 Minutes, host Lesley Stahl dropped a bombshell question on George Lucas.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom holds a strange place in every Indiana Jones fan’s heart. The awkward middle child, Temple of Doom is a dark, problematic prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, one which takes the series in a weirder, wilder direction—and manages to pull off one of the greatest openings of any action movie ever.

Today there’s often an assumption that contemporary critics weren’t enamored by director Steven Spielberg and writer George Lucas’ second collaboration, but that’s slightly misleading; The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael preferred Temple to Raiders because it fully embraced being “preposterous” and “implausible,” though she also writes that her friends labeled it “heartless” and “overbearing.” Meanwhile Roger Ebert gave the film a perfect four stars while People magazine warned that children may be traumatized by it.

Kael and her friends’ analysis perhaps best sums up why The Temple of Doom...

Oh, Canada debuting this week on the Croisette is high time to see lesser-seen Schrader on the Criterion Channel, who’ll debut an 11-title series including the likes of Touch, The Canyons, and Patty Hearst, while Old Boyfriends (written with his brother Leonard) and his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” are also programmed. Five films by Jean Grémillon, a rather underappreciated figure of French cinema, will be showing

Series-wise, there’s an appreciation of the synth soundtrack stretching all the way back to 1956’s Forbidden Planet while, naturally, finding its glut of titles in the ’70s and ’80s––Argento and Carpenter, obviously, but also Tarkovsky and Peter Weir. A Prince and restorations of films by Bob Odenkirk, Obayashi, John Greyson, and Jacques Rivette (whose Duelle is a masterpiece of the highest order) make streaming debuts. I Am Cuba, Girlfight, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Dazed and Confused are June’s Criterion Editions.

Clockwise from bottom left: Before Sunrise (Columbia Pictures), Jaws (Universal Pictures), Y Tu Mamá También (20th Century Fox), Body Heat (Warner Bros.)Graphic: The A.V. Club

Summer can bring about more than just a certain mood evoked by warmer weather. Perhaps more than other seasons, it can bring up specific memories.

There are a lot of great moments in Steven Spielberg's 1981 action-adventure film "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but nothing quite comes close to the film's intense climax. After following archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and feisty bar owner Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) on their journey to try and stop the Nazis from stealing a biblical artifact, said Nazis actually manage to open the artifact — the Ark of the Covenant, the holy box that once held the Tablets of the Law, which contained the ten commandments passed down to Moses by God in the old testament. They open the box to try and get a peek at what's inside, only to have their Nazi faces melted right off like a bunch of action figures hit with a blowtorch. It's one of the most satisfying moments in cinema history, but according to Spielberg, it was also pretty much done by the seat of his pants.

Many times in life the anticipation is stronger than the fulfillment.

Few things were more anticipated in recent movie history than “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” On many levels, it did almost live up to the hype: It’s still the number-one domestic box-office hit of all time in the U.S., unadjusted for inflation. Its reviews were overwhelmingly positive. It opened up a whole new era of storytelling for the franchise and deftly balanced the return of beloved characters from the Original Trilogy — Harrison Ford, in particular, delivering the most moving performance he ever gave as Han Solo — while introducing dynamic rising stars. It may have been overly indebted to “A New Hope” and mired in a few too many callbacks, but on the whole, “Force Awakens” was a movie that mined the deep emotion fans have for the franchise while pointing a path forward.

Yet even still, the...

“Jar Jar Binks makes the Ewoks look like fucking Shaft.” – Tim Bisley, Spaced, “Change” (2001).

Reviews for The Phantom Menace were, it’s fair to say, mixed. Looking back on it, that’s understandable. It’s a mixed film. After a lot of excitement and hype for the return of the game-changing franchise, some anti-climax was inevitable. 133 minutes and countless midi-chlorians later, a sense of disappointment gave way to rage for some.

Attack of the Clones had an improved, if not stellar, critical reception and Revenge of the Sith continued this trend to be recognized as the best of the three. That said, despite the upward trajectory there was a sense that these films would never recover from their initial mauling and that their lasting legacy would be their failure to recapture the magic of the Original Trilogy in a sustained way.

But 25 years after the release of The Phantom Menace,...