News

Two years ago, we heard that American Horror Story regular Sarah Paulson had signed on to star in a horror thriller called Dust, which would be released as a Hulu Original. That film has since made its way out into the world under the title Hold Your Breath, having been released through the Hulu streaming service on October 3rd – and not only do we have a review of the movie that can be read Here and press day interviews that can be found Here, but we also caught up with the cast and filmmakers when they were on the red carpet at the film’s premiere! JoBlo’s own Ryan Cultrera was able to speak with the film’s stars Sarah Paulson, Amiah Miller (War for the Planet of the Apes), and Alona Jane Robbins (Law & Order), directors William Joines and Karrie Crouse, plus Natasha Ofili of The Politician...

Searchlight Pictures has released the official trailer for the psychological horror-thriller film Hold Your Breath, which will debut on Hulu on October 3, 2024. Previously titled “Dust,” Hold Your Breath is rated R for some violence/disturbing images.

The film is set in 1930s Oklahoma amid the region’s horrific dust storms. A woman, played by Sarah Paulson, is convinced that a sinister presence threatens her family.

Hold Your Breath is set to premiere in the Special Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2024. Karrie Crouse and Will Joines directed the film, which Crouse wrote.

The cast includes Sarah Paulson, Amiah Miller, Annaleigh Ashford, Alona Jane Robbins, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear). Alix Madigan and Lucas Joaquin produced the movie.

“Sarah is an extraordinary artist, and we are thrilled to be working with her again,” said Searchlight Pictures previously. Paulson starred in Searchlight’s 12 Years a Slave and Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Two years ago, we heard that American Horror Story regular Sarah Paulson had signed on to star in a horror thriller called Dust, which would be released as a Hulu Original. That film has since made its way through production and post-production, and along the way it was retitled Hold Your Breath. It’s now set to be released through the Hulu streaming service on October 3rd – and with that date swiftly approaching, a batch of first look images have arrived online! You can check them out in this article.

Coming to us from Searchlight Pictures, Hold Your Breath marks the feature directorial debut of directors William Joines and Karrie Crouse. Crouse wrote the screenplay for the film, which has the following synopsis: In 1930s Oklahoma, amid the region’s horrific dust storms, a woman is convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family. Another synopsis let us know...

Chemistry has always been Hollywood’s secret sauce, and, for rom-coms at least, the high-water mark remains the pairing of Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Most cineastes can name their first collaboration (Pillow Talk in 1959), but the others — Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964) — don’t come to mind so quickly. As a brand, though, these two have more than endured in pop culture, and writers and directors have had to work harder and harder to find a way to recapture that magic, since we now know very well that it requires a great deal more than just putting a couple of good-looking famous people together.

Peyton Reed came close in 2003’s with his stylish, early-’60s period pastiche Down with Love, casting Renee Zellweger alongside Ewan McGregor, and Olivia Wilde certainly did not with 2022’s Don’t Worry Darling, lumbering Florence Pugh with Harry Styles in a risible ’50s-themed sci-fi.

1961’s Fantastic Four may have kicked off the Marvel Universe, but the Ff aren’t really superheroes. They are explorers, they are scientists, and yes, they do fight supervillains such as Doctor Doom, but at their heart, the Fantastic Four are a family.

So when Marvel officially announced the cast for next year’s Fantastic Four movie with a Twitter post, the good news isn’t the cast. Pedro Pascal has long been rumored to play Mr. Fantastic Reed Richards, as has Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm-Richards aka Invisible Girl/Woman, Joseph Quinn as the Human Torch/Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew the Thing.

No, the big news here is that Marvel made the announcement in the form of a Valentine card. “Happy Valentine’s Day” declares the banner above the team. Below the banner, we see Reed playfully dancing with Sue,...

Peyton Tucker Reed, born on July 3, 1964, in Raleigh, North Carolina, has built an impressive career as an American film and television director [1][2]. Reed’s journey from a University of North Carolina student to a sought-after Hollywood director has taken him through various genres, ultimately leading him to the helm of major superhero blockbusters. This article will explore Reed’s career highlights, his personal life, and his upcoming projects.

Early Life and Career

Reed’s passion for filmmaking developed while attending the University of North Carolina, where he also worked as a DJ for the university’s radio station [2]. After graduation, he began directing television shows, building his résumé and honing his skills behind the camera.

Breakthrough in Comedy Films

Reed’s career took off with the success of the 2000 cheerleading comedy Bring It On, which showcased his talent for directing light-hearted and entertaining films [1]. He went on to direct other...

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we usually talk about movie stars and not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. Today, however, we talk about Oscar movies (!), or better yet, movies that were snubbed of Oscar!

Conor and I welcome the wonderful Joe Reid & Chris Feil of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. An official podcast crossover! In today’s episode, we each choose an Oscar snub that still sticks in our craw, and use them as a jumping off point for the categories of that respective year.

We reference two great past Oscar Buzz eps (A Thousand Acres & Elizabethtown), the lasting influence of Lisa Gerrard, Dan’s favorite film performance, Joe’s love for Marcelo Zarvos’ brilliant score for The Door in the Floor, Chris’ admiration of the singular costume (and production) design in Down With Love,...

This post contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

By the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the Marvel Universe had not one new bad guy to deal with, but many. Not only is there the major bad guy Kang the Conqueror, but also Immortus, Rama-Tut, and a guy who might be the Scarlet Centurion. And then there is the army of Kang variants who arrive. But eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the Kangs’ mode of transportation may have pointed to the coming of another, even more powerful villain: Doctor Victor Von Doom.

Among others, TikTok user VisualFury noted out that when the Kangs arrive in the post-credit scene of the movie, they do so in the same way that Reed Richards joined the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. A glowing box appears and separates, allowing a...

This post contains slight spoilers for "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." 

After 15 years, the lore of the Marvel Cinematic Universe runs very deep. The franchise from the House of Ideas now encompasses films, TV shows, shorts, specials, and literature (including Scott Lang's memoir "Look Out For The Little Guy"). So it's understandable if a new True Believer feels daunted by the sheer amount of media they would need to consume if they want to completely catch up with the entire story. After all, it's not like anyone really wants to do homework in order to watch the latest blockbuster in a theater. But if you're looking to see "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," surely you understand that it's a necessary evil, right?

It's not entirely required to have seen every story that makes up the MCU to follow along with Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly's titular heroes, but...

“Ant-Man,” released eight years ago, was a comic-book movie that almost inadvertently used its hyper-miniaturized cowboy-on-ant-back superhero as a metaphor for what a tiny place the film itself occupied in the MCU. “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (2018) was a bit less small. The director, Peyton Reed, who had a background in human comedy, expanded the sequel into a puckish fantasy of scale, with characters and objects popping back and forth in size, though the result was still more amusing than momentous. Paul Rudd’s nice-guy divorced dad turned badass metallic bug Scott Lang may have been an official Avenger, but that still didn’t give him more than a flyweight significance.

Now, though, with “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” the “Ant-Man” series has gone Full Marvel. The new movie takes place almost entirely in the Quantum Realm, a mutating sub-atomic sphere that exists outside our space-time continuum. It’s essentially an...

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is a movie directed by Peyton Reed starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas.

From Marvel Studios comes another installment of one of the company’s most entertaining sagas, Ant-Man.

Premise

Superhero duo Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, together with Hope’s parents Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, find themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures, and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.

Release Date

February 17, 2023

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) Director

Peyton Reed (born 3 July 1964) is an American television and film director. Reed was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reed directed the motion pictures Bring It On, Down with Love, and The Break-Up; all comedy films. He has also acted in small roles in some...

It’s last call for a number of noteworthy movies leaving HBO Max in December. If you remember “Project Popcorn” – the strategy that saw all 2021 Warner Bros. movies stream on HBO Max the same day they hit theaters – then “Mortal Kombat” and “Those Who Wish Me Dead” will sound familiar. The martial arts reboot and Taylor Sheridan thriller, respectively, will be leaving the streaming service this month.

It’s also final call for Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead,” the extended version of Ridley Scott’s “The Counselor” and Edgar Wright’s terrific sci-fi action-comedy “The World’s End” if auteurs are your thing. “Planet Earth” and “Planet Earth II” are also leaving the streaming service soon.

Here’s the full list of what’s leaving HBO Max in December 2022.

Also Read:

Here’s What’s New on HBO and HBO Max in December 2022

December 8

Mortal Kombat, 2021 (HBO)

December 13

Spark: A Space Tail,...

John Aylward, the actor best known for his recurring roles in popular NBC dramas “ER” and “The West Wing,” died Monday in Seattle from natural causes, his agent Mitchell K. Stubbs confirmed to Variety. He was 75.

Born and raised in Seattle, Aylward graduated from the University of Washington’s school of drama in 1970. He got his start as a theater actor, founding Seattle’s Empty Space Theatre in 1973. He served as a regular in Seattle Repertory Theatre for 15 years.

After getting his start in television with small roles on television films — including “The Secret Life of John Chapman,” “Stamp of a Killer,” “Third Degree Burn,” “Child in the Night” and “With a Vengeance” — Aylward began working more frequently on television in the ’90s, starting with a recurring role on “Northern Exposure.” Other television shows he had notable recurring and guest spots on over the course of his career included “Grace Under Fire,...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Down with Love"

Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max

The Pitch: It's the early 1960s, and society's relationships with gender and sex are on the brink of a massive overhaul. Barbara Novak (Renée Zellweger) is an author looking to push for that change, writing a book about how women should forego searching for love and empower them to live just as any man would (which of course includes going out to enjoy meaningless,...

The post The Daily Stream: Down With Love Expertly Revives A Genre We Never See Nowadays appeared first on /Film.

By Christopher James

Doris Day had the biggest hit of career with "Pillow Talk," which was her first movie with Rock Hudson

Doris Day’s sole Oscar nomination came for Pillow Talk. If this isn’t the best performance of her career, it’s at least the most iconic version of her persona. For those looking to get a sense of her star character, this is the best place to start. Pillow Talk was the highest grossing movie of Day’s career, and the start of her most bankable period. According to the Numbers, Pillow Talk was the fifth highest grossing film of 1959 with 18 million box office (roughly 182 million adjusted for inflation). In addition to acting, Day also sings three songs in the film, most notably the titular song that plays over the delightful opening credits.

It’s impossible to resist the pairing of Rock Hudson and Doris Day in Pillow Talk.

Billy Porter is set to direct a feature film adaptation of “Camp,” a teen comedy about love, musical theater and summer camp.

The movie, set at Warner Bros. and scheduled to premiere on HBO Max, is based on Lev Rosen’s young adult novel. It centers on 16-year-old Randy Kapplehoff, who spends his summers at Camp Outland, an outdoor oasis for queer teens. It’s there that he meets his best friends, stars in the big musical — and falls in love with Hudson Aaronson-Lim, a boy who doesn’t know he exists. So Randy reinvents himself as the buff and masculine Del, who forgoes his beloved show tunes, nail polish and unicorn bedsheets to capture the heart of the hunky camper. But as he and Hudson grow closer, Randy has to consider how much he’s willing to change for love.

Along with directing duties, Porter will play the role of Mark,...

Exclusive: Billy Porter has come on board to direct the feature adaptation of Camp for HBO Max and Warner Bros. Oscar winner Dan Jinks is producing through The Dan Jinks Company, and Robert O’Hara is rewriting the screenplay by Kit Williamson, which is based on the YA novel by Lev Rosen.

The film follows 16-year-old Randy Kapplehoff, who loves spending the summer at Camp Outland, a camp for queer teens. It’s where he met his best friends. It’s where he takes to the stage in the big musical. And it’s where he fell for Hudson Aaronson-Lim – who’s only into straight-acting guys and barely knows not-at-all-straight-acting Randy even exists. Randy reinvents himself over the summer as Del, a buff, masculine and on-the-market camper. Even if it means giving up show tunes, nail polish and his unicorn bedsheets, he’s determined to get Hudson to fall for him.

Basil Hoffman, whose long career in film and television is best remembered for his portrayal of Ed Greenglass on Hill Street Blues, died Sept. 17. No details on where or cause of death were given by his manager, Brad Lemack.

Hoffman appeared in more than 200 roles in TV and films. The veteran character actor was a recurring player in several series, including Hill Street Blues, Santa Barbara, Square Pegs and Courage, New Hampshire.

Born in Houston, Hoffman graduated Tulane University with an economics degree, then headed to New York. He studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and scored several commercials and bit parts before heading to Hollywood.

His acting resume includes roles in the Academy Award-winning films Ordinary People and The Artist, as well as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Hail Caesar!, All the President’s Men, Comes a Horseman, The Milagro Beanfield War and Down With Love,...

Character actor Basil Hoffman, who had more than 100 roles in television shows and movies, died Sept. 17, according to his manager Brad Lemack. He was 83.

He had recurring roles on several series, playing Ed Greenglass on “Hill Street Blues,” Joshua Friendly on “Santa Barbara,” Principal Dingleman on “Square Pegs,” and Simeon Trapp in “Courage, New Hampshire.”

Hoffman was born and raised in Houston, and started his acting career after graduating Tulane U. with a degree in economics. He trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, then began working in commercials and small roles before moving to Hollywood.

He appeared in Academy Award-winning films “Ordinary People” and “The Artist,” and had small roles in films including “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Hail Caesar!,” “All the President’s Men,” “Comes a Horseman,” “The Milagro Beanfield War” and “Down With Love.” His other film roles included “My Favorite Year,” “The Electric Horseman,...

Our special In Memoriam photo gallery honoring the greats that have gone in 2021 has added another celebrated name. Five-time Emmy nominee Michael K. Williams, who is favored to win at the Emmy Awards later this month for “Lovecraft Country,” has died at age 54. You can also watch his recent acceptance speech when he won the 2021 Gold Derby TV Award.

Tour our gallery above featuring 26 celebrities from the entertainment worlds of music, film, television and Broadway. Here is a brief glance at some of those people being featured.

Michael Kenneth Williams died at age 54 on September 6. He was a four-time acting nominee at the Emmys for “Bessie,” “The Night Of,” “When They See Us” and “Lovecraft Country,” plus a producing nominee for “Vice.” He was well known for his TV role in “The Wire” and had film success in “Inherent Vice,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Road.

Don Everly, who with his brother, Phil, was part of the Everly Brothers, a huge chart success in the late 1950s and early 1960s that grew into Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, died on Saturday at his home in Nashville. He was 84.

A family spokesman confirmed the death to The Los Angeles Times. No cause was given.

The duo were one of the first pop-rock acts to emerge from Nashville, and became instant hitmakers on the strength of the soaring harmonies in such songs as “Wake Up Little Susie” and “Cathy’s Clown.” They became a major influence on everything to follow, from the British Invasion through the Southern California county-rock scene.

Their harmonies on such hits as “Bye Bye Love” and “All I Have To Do Is Dream” are timeless and unforgettable. Don Everly usually sang lead, with his brother handling the higher harmony.

“It’s almost like...

Don Everly, half of one of rock’s earliest and most influential harmony groups, the Everly Brothers, died Saturday in his Nashville home at the age of 84. A rep for the singer confirmed his death to the Los Angeles Times. A cause of death was not immediately known.

“Don lived by what he felt in his heart,” Everly’s family said in a statement to the Times. “Don expressed his appreciation for the ability to live his dreams … with his soulmate and wife, Adela, and sharing the music that made him an Everly Brother.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between.

Today, we’ve got a great guest on to talk about a great Scotsman – Ewan McGregor! Conor and I are blessed to have the wonderful Fiona Underhill (of JumpCut Online) on to talk through the underrated actor’s incredibly diverse career. We focus on: The Pillow Book, A Life Less Ordinary, Down With Love, and Perfect Sense.

We dish on Ewan’s iconic looks, the full frontal nudity that punctuated his early films, the conflicted accent work, that James Joyce movie he did, and the long feud between him and Danny Boyle that happened because of The Beach.

Additional items include the animated film Robots (from the now-shuttered studio Blue Sky), an especially-effective short film called Desserts, and...

Over the first three episodes of “WandaVision,” it’s both easy to see and hard to defend why the first Disney+ series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe needs to be a series at all.

Arguing in favor of its format, the limited series is very much about TV. Wanda Maximoff, also known as the Scarlet Witch (and played by Elizabeth Olsen), finds herself living through a version of ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s era TV sitcoms, alongside her atypical romantic partner, a synthetic android named Vision (Paul Bettany). The couple constitutes a classic pair: a homemaking housewife and an office drone husband; she frets over fitting in with the neighbors, and he stresses over a promotion being dangled at work. Early episodes air in black-and-white, a “live” audience can be heard laughing at the rat-a-tat banter, and everything is framed in the ol’ box top’s 4:3, rather than the now-standard widescreen format.

HBO Max’s Julia Child pilot has been forced to replace one of its key ingredients.

David Hyde Pierce, best known for playing Dr. Niles Crane on “Frasier,” has joined the cast as Julia’s devoted husband Paul Child. The role was initially meant to be played by British actor Tom Hollander, however, he stepped away from the project due to scheduling conflicts, sources say.

Julia herself will still be played fellow Brit Sarah Lancashire.

The pilot will also star Brittany Bradford as Alice, Associate Producer of the show “I’ve Been Reading” who champions Julia after her appearance; Fran Kranz as Russ, producer on the show “I’ve Been Reading” who begrudgingly joins Julia’s cooking show; Fiona Glascott as Judith, the editor with a knack for pulling manuscripts out of the reject pile and turning them into bestsellers; Bebe Neuwirth as Avis, Julia’s biggest champion, confidant and...

By Michael Cusumano

The best genre parodies are so full of affection for their targets that they can’t help but make a superior example of the very thing they aim to satirize. It can be fun to throw tomatoes at a genre’s contrivances and cliches from the outside, but titles such as Young Frankenstein or Down With Love circumvent your ironic detachment to provide the far more satisfying experience of playing with these tropes from inside a story you care about.

This kind of rare pleasure is one of the reasons Shane Black’s crime caper comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang has amassed the following it has since it underperformed in theaters back in 2005. Black’s film actually does double satirical duty, lampooning both the world of Raymond Chandler-esque noir and the world of the hyper-masculine, wise-ass body cop action movies of the 80’s and 90’s, a...

Another shut-in month is coming to a close in this dread Covid-19 season. We're trying to keep you entertained without new movies in theaters. Here are a dozen key posts from the month that was in case u missed 'em.

• Down With Love - Costume designer Daniel Orlandi shares his memories of working on this one of a kind romantic comedy and 60s riff

• Nightmare Alley - The fine original demands rediscovery. The remake might be interesting

• How to Build a Girl -Beanie Feldstein's star vehicle reviewed

• Over & Overs: Anatomy of a Murder - this courtroom drama so rewatchable?

• The New Classics: Two Days One Night -sublimely truthful Marion Cotillard

• Hot Emmy Contest -Lead Actress in a TV Miniseries? Super competitive!

• Loretta vs Roz - Two friends vied for Best Actress 1947

• 5 Things I Learned from Bob Mackie - Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi shares career advice for young movie...

Exclusive: MGM will turn the iconic stage musical Fiddler On The Roof into a feature film adaptation that will be directed by the red hot director Thomas Kail, who’ll produce with Dan Jinks and Aaron Harnick. Steven Levenson will write it, based on the musical that opened on Broadway in 1964 and won nine Tony Awards.

The musical features music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and book by Joseph Stein, and the original was directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Its Tony haul included Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score of a Musical, Best Director and Best Choreographer and it played more than 3000 performances. The production has been revived on Broadway multiple times and continues to be performed around the globe. The musical was turned into a 1971 Norman Jewison-directed film by United Artists with Topol playing Tevye. The film won three Oscars out of eight nominations.

Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi concludes his guest-blogging day with our favourite of his pictures. You should follow him on Instagram for more fun set photos & costume sketches....

by Daniel Orlandi

The Doris Day / Rock Hudson sex comedy romps were among the first movies I saw as a kid. I was so enamored of the look. So when I read the script to Down with Love (2003), I had to do it. I owe a lot to Producer Paddy Cullen for helping me get the job. She slipped me that script early and got me in to meet the director and producers first.

There was one problem, though...

by Nathaniel R

Daniel Orlandi's favourite set pic... amongst the costumes of "The Da Vinci Code"

It's been awhile since The Film Experience has been hijacked for a full day by a super-talented Hollywood player. We figured it was time for another one. In the past we've handed the reins over to visiting embodiments of awesomeness like the rapidly rising writer/director Leslye Headland, and brilliant actor/writer David Dastmalchian, as well as a handful of actresses we deeply love: Missi Pyle, Ann Dowd, Melanie Lynskey, and Cara Seymour.

Our latest overlord for a full day: Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi !  

Daniel with Ewan McGregor on the set of "Down with Love"Orlandi's design gigs include but are not limited to: Cinderella Man (2005), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Saving Mr Banks (2013), Jurassic World (2015), Logan (2017), and three Best Picture nominees Frost/Nixon (2008), The Blind Side (2009), and  Ford V Ferrari (2019).

We don't know exactly...

This year, actress Renee Zellweger will receive the 2020 Courage Award for her charitable contributions and philanthropic efforts throughout her career, including her support of breast cancer research and awareness.

On Thursday, February 27, 2020, the Women's Cancer Research Fund (Wcrf) Honorary Chairs Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, along with Gala Chairs Quinn Ezralow and Jamie Tisch, and Co-Chairs Wallis Annenberg & Kris Levine, NJ Falk, Tom Ford & Richard Buckley, Judy & Leonard Lauder, Marion Laurie, and Lori Kanter Tritsch & William P. Lauder, will welcome guests to An Unforgettable Evening.

The event, which will be hosted by actor, comedian, and producer Ken Jeong, will take place at the Beverly Wilshire, and benefit the Wcrf, a program of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (Bcrf).

Renée Zellweger is one of the most cherished and respected actors in modern cinema. She is most notably known for her starring role as the seminal British everywoman...

Renée Zellweger will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award at the 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival in January, Psiff announced on Friday.

The Film Awards Gala will take place on January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Past winners of the award include Olivia Colman, Cate Blanchett, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Saoirse Ronan and Charlize Theron.

“Renée Zellweger inhabits the essence of the iconic Judy Garland in ‘Judy.’ This is a layered performance that captures Judy’s trademark spirit, along with the heartbreak and insecurities she experiences in London while performing at a series of sold out shows,” Festival Chairman Harold Matzner said. “For this outstanding performance, a career best for Zellweger – and one in which she remarkably does her own singing — it is our honor to present the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress to Renée Zellweger.”

Also Read: Renée Zellweger to Receive Santa Barbara Film Festival American Riviera Award

“Judy,...

Chicago – The cleanest Improvisation act took place at Chicago’s Navy Pier on August 25th, 2019. Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Rachel Dratch & Friends headlined the Cottonelle Superior Clean County Fair for National Toilet Paper Day (8/26). Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com got the Exclusive Photos.

Rachel Dratch (right) & Friend at Cottonelle Superior Clean County Fair, August 25th, 2019

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

The Cottonelle Superior Clean Country Fair was bought to Chicago by Cottonelle bathroom tissue and the Amazon Treasure Truck, and was highlighted by “clean” improv shows by Dratch and her band of improv friends. This event also included a “Peachy Clean” Finger Paint Art demonstration, an Arcade Game row, an Upgradeed Bathroom Art Gallery, The “Cleaning Ripples” Slide and (answering the age old question of over or under for a toilet paper roll) “How Do You Roll?” survey.

Rachel Dratch: Isn’t It a Beautiful Sunny Day?...

The new Judy Garland biopic “Judy” opens on September 27, and that’s the same day Decca and Republic Records will release the accompanying soundtrack album, which will feature a couple of newly recorded duets. Renee Zellweger stars in the film as Garland and teams up with Sam Smith on Garland’s classic song “Get Happy.” And the actress joins forces with Rufus Wainwright on a rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” So Zellweger could potentially win an Oscar and a Grammy for her new project.

Smith said in a statement, “When I was 17 years old I did a project on Judy Garland for my Film Studies A-Level. I was immediately immersed into the magic of Judy and her incredibly brave and triumphant story. She has remained as one of the icons of my life. She was one of the bravest humans out there and her vulnerability and honesty...

If Marc Shaiman wins an Oscar on February 24, the long-time composer and lyricist will enter that rarefied ranks of showbiz status: He’ll have an Egot. But he’s trying not to think about that part. “Oh, my God, the whole Egot thing, I can’t even go there,” Shaiman said with a laugh during a recent interview.

With his sixth and seventh Oscar nominations under his belt for his work on Rob Marshall’s “Mary Poppins Returns” — a Best Song nomination for “The Place Where Lost Things Go,” shared with his long-time creative partner Scott Wittman, plus a solo nomination for Best Score — Shaiman could finally seal the deal. In 2003, he won both his first Grammy and first Tony for his and Wittman’s “Hairspray,” and he’s since been nominated again by both awards shows for other projects.

Shaiman’s path to Egot glory started somewhat inauspiciously, thanks...

Peyton Reed, the director of Down with Love and drummer of a long defunct Smiths cover band, once again brought some feel-good laughs to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Ant-Man and the Wasp. The sequel was a bit bigger, a little looser, and even Scott Lang was funnier, but Reed and all involved still managed to keep it […]

The post ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Director Peyton Reed Discusses Notes From Kevin Feige and His Days Playing in a Smiths Cover Band [Interview] appeared first on /Film.

From Ant-Man to Bring It On to his crowning achievement, Down With Love, there’s a sincere buoyancy to director Peyton Reed‘s work. His deft control of tone is currently on display in Ant-Man and the Wasp, which brings good-hearted laughs to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Infinity War‘s downer ending. While Reed made Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) origin story a heist movie, […]

The post ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Director Peyton Reed on The Quantum Realm, That San Fran Car Chase, and Mini Paul Rudd [Spoiler Interview] appeared first on /Film.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially turned 20 … and it only took 10 years. “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” whose title heroes can shrink to the size of a bug, opens on July 6, and though it doesn’t necessarily represent an epochal moment in the overarching Marvel story, it’s nevertheless a milestone. There aren’t many film franchises that reach their 20th title, and fewer where the vast majority of them earned positive reviews. But how does the McU’s 20th film compare to the last 19?

The reviews are mostly positive thus far. As of this writing “Ant-Man and the Wasp” has a MetaCritic score of 69 based on the input of 41 critics. And on Rotten Tomatoes the film is rated 87% fresh with 126 reviews counted. The Rt consensus says it’s “A lighter, brighter superhero movie powered by the effortless charisma of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly.”

This “Ant-Man” sequel has even scored better than its 2015 predecessor,...

[Editor’s note: This article contains light spoilers for “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”]

For his first sequel, director Peyton Reed had to go big. Following his inaugural foray into both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the wider world of blockbuster moviemaking with 2015’s “Ant-Man,” Reed signed on to direct the inevitable “Ant-Man” sequel just three months after the first Paul Rudd-starring superhero film hit theaters.

That doesn’t mean the “Yes Man” and “Down With Love” director was entirely ready for the kind of serialized filmmaking the McU entails. “I have really specific ideas of what I like in sequels and what I dislike in sequels,” he recently told IndieWire. However, he found that the interconnected nature of the billion-dollar franchise actually aided in his vision for what would become “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”

Read More: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Review: A Funny and Forgettable Marvel Sequel That Falls Short of Its Promise

“I think in a weird...

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” has a pleasingly breakneck, now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t surreal glee. It’s a cunningly swift and delightful comedy of scale, in which Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), that quipster mensch of a convict-turned-superhero (has there ever been a movie criminal this nice?), shoots around in his miniaturizing metal suit like the world’s tiniest gadfly, only to loom up as large as Godzilla. Either way, he always has time to deliver a line like “Do you really just put the word quantum ahead of everything?” The answer is: Yes. “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is a fantasy of mutating matter in which buildings collapse into Monopoly toys, a Hello Kitty Pez dispenser gets inflated into a freeway battering ram, and the most fearless of the characters is injected into an ocean of psychedelic sub-atomic protoplasm.

The director, Peyton Reed, also made the first “Ant-Man” (2015), but at the time he’d...

Perhaps the best way to approach “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” the sequel to the 2015 Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure that introduced the shrinking superhero, is as a Disney movie rather than a Marvel one. And when I say “Disney movie,” I mean a very specific kind: the goofy Dexter Riley comedies.

From 1969 to 1975, Kurt Russell played affable college student Dexter, who kept running afoul of science experiments that rendered him strong, super-smart or even invisible. Substitute Paul Rudd’s amiable ex-con Scott Lang for Dexter — with Michael Douglas subbing for scientist William Schallert, and Walton Goggins taking the Keenan Wynn/Cesar Romero role of the nefarious mobster — and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is basically “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” for the 21st century.

Mind you, I mean this as a compliment; after a rough start in the previous entry, director Peyton Reed (“Down With Love”) seems much more comfortable balancing wacky antics,...

Does a new year mean a new Netflix? Probably not, as their slate for the first month of 2018 is still troublingly light on movies that would be old enough to have their own Netflix accounts. Nevertheless, the streaming giant has plugged a few of the biggest gaps in their library of classic films, adding “The Godfather” trilogy, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” and the entire “Bring it On” series in one fell swoop.

Here are the seven best films to stream on Netflix in January 2018 (and click here for a list of everything that’s been added to the service this month).

7. “Definitely, Maybe” (2008)

Remember romantic comedies? They were nice. Sure, many of them were patently insane, and almost all of them reinforced some pernicious gender norms, but they could also be sweet and sincere reminders that we’re all just out there looking for love. “Definitely, Maybe” is one of the genre’s better examples,...

To celebrate today’s release of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – available in stores from today – here’s a list of the Ten Best phone scenes in movies, showcasing some of the most famous telephone calls ever made.

Pillow Talk (1959)

A man and woman share a telephone line and despise each other, but when he sees the woman for the first time and immediately falls for her, he has fun by romancing her with his voice disguised. Pillow Talk was the first of three movies in which Doris Day and Rock Hudson starred together and was named by the National Film Registry for being ‘culturally, historically and aesthetically’ significant.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

The 1989 American romantic comedy starring Billy Crystal (Harry) and Meg Ryan (Sally) raised the question: ‘Can men and women ever just be friends’? Grossing a total of $92.2 million at the box office, the film’s plot focuses...

Last night on “Full Frontal,” host Samantha Bee laid out her final thoughts on this year’s presidential election. She provided a full endorsement for “Hillary Goddamn Brilliant Badass Queen Beyoncé Rodham” and aired a segment in which Bee travels to Russia to examine journalism under the dictatorial rule of Vladimir Putin. However, one of her main segments last night examined Hillary Clinton’s emails, one of the central issues of the campaign, and how it mostly demonstrates how Clinton asks her staff to print everything for her. In order to best illustrate “the fascinating emails of a sixty-something,” Bee enlists actress Sarah Paulson to help read some of the emails in her one woman show “Hillary’s Emails: Yes I Am Up.” Watch the segment below.

Read More: Samantha Bee Theorizes that Donald Trump Can’t Read in Amazing ‘Full Frontal’ Segment — Watch

Sarah Paulson is known for her...

With Far from Heaven, Mildred Pierce, and I’m Not There, Todd Haynes has often depicted the dark, authentic underbelly of the perfect family that lives down the lane. In his latest film, Carol, he returns to the 1950s, with a titular character (Cate Blanchett) who’s lavish on top — impeccably dressed and elegant — but is aching underneath out of love for both her daughter and her new lover, Therese (Rooney Mara).

The woman Carol can always expect to stand by her is Abby, played by Sarah Paulson. Everything we need to know about their friendship isn’t from when their romantic past is mentioned, but when the two simply walk together, holding onto each other. Carol is a film in which actions often speak louder than words — one of the reasons why Paulson was drawn to the project.

The actress was kind enough to make time to discuss Haynes’ newest picture with us.

The Film Experience is proud to welcome back Matthew Eng for this personal Fyc

Sarah Paulson photographed for VarietyThese days, to simply see Sarah Paulson’s name in the opening credits of any project is enough to make me sit back, relax, and sigh with deep and reverent relief that — no matter the lapses in storytelling, the dubiousness of politics, or the haphazard efforts of other actors — I am in the hands of at least one supremely assured and eternally convincing performer.

As someone who missed Aaron Sorkin’s infamous Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and the extensive list of sitcoms and serials she appeared in from the mid-nineties to the late-2000s (not to mention her numerous stage roles and occasional film appearances), my Sarah Paulson fandom is fairly recent. Of course, like many, I’d seen and admired her wry gal pal in Down with Love, which...

It’s not surprising people like Ant-Man. It’s a funny, cool, and clever superhero pic that relies more on the conventions of a heist movie than a superhero movie. Director Peyton Reed (Down with Love) also made a Marvel movie that doesn’t feature a massive third act with extras running around and the hero fighting a bunch of […]

The post Director Terry Gilliam Actually Likes ‘Ant-Man’ appeared first on /Film.

Recently, Marvel (and Disney) announced that the sequel to Ant-Man would be titled Ant-Man and the Wasp and is slated to arrive in theaters July of 2018. We already know, and certainly expect, that actor Paul Rudd will be back as Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man. Now THR is reporting that director Peyton Reed is also returning for the sequel, and is in negotiations to direct Ant-Man and the Wasp as his next feature. Most will remember that Peyton was chosen to replace Edgar Wright, who left after working on the project for a long time. The movie still turned out pretty good, the sequel is already in the works, and Reed will be back. Before getting into the Marvel Universe, Peyton Reed was making mostly comedies including Bring It On, Down with Love, The Break-Up and Yes Man with Jim Carrey. Marvel's Ant-Man movie ended up with a box office total of $178 million in the Us,...

Just in time for the holidays, Ant-man will available early on Digital 3D, Digital HD, and Disney Movies Anywhere November 17 & on 3D Blu-Ray Combo Pack, Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital Sd and On-Demand December 8, 2015.

In his review, Wamg’s Jim Batts wrote, “Ant-man proves that good, fun things really do come in the teeny, tiniest of packages (and heroes).”

Marvel, the Studio who brought you The Avengers, now brings to life one of the original Avengers — Marvel’s Ant-man. Bring home the epic heist as Ant-man embraces his inner hero and harnesses the unique ability to shrink in scale to save not only the world, but his daughter.

The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduces the newest member of the Avengers: Marvel’s Ant-Man. Armed with the amazing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang joins forces with his new mentor Dr.

Marvel’s tiniest hero stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s smallest movie so far, one that loses Paul Rudd’s charm among familiar comic-book action. I’m “biast” (pro): love Paul Rudd

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Marvel’s tiniest hero! Now starring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s smallest movie so far. Also its most run-of-the-mill movie so far.

This was bound to happen eventually. There are only so many ways you can take a guy — always a guy! — who’s a little bit messed up but basically a decent fellow who just needs a little redemption to set him on the right road, expose him to a little magical mad science, give him a special suit to run around in, and set him loose on the bad guys.

We have seen this all before. Oh, sure,...