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Since 1975 nearly a thousand hosts have graced the stage at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center for “Saturday Night Live.”

Actors, comedians, musicians and even politicians have taken the stage to make America laugh on Saturday night for 50 seasons. Twenty five of these hosts have been inducted into the “Five Timers Club.” The club was first introduced during Tom Hanks’ 1990 monologue, featuring Steve Martin, Elliott Gould and Paul Simon.

During Martin Short’s December 2024 appearance, several Five Timers Club members popped up on the show to welcome him into the club, including Emma Stone, Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig and more, to give him the ceremonial robe.

Alec Baldwin has hosted the show 17 times, the most in the series’ history, with Martin, Hanks, Buck Henry and John Goodman following close behind.

As the show celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, we have rounded up every person who has hosted the sketch show.

Over the years, Hollywood has delivered an abundance of memorable on-screen partnerships -- Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, among many others. Over 30 years after their first collaboration, it's probably safe to add Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to the list. 

Together, the dynamic duo have produced memorable entertainment aplenty, putting their remarkable chemistry to good use in everything from Kevin Smith's "Dogma" to Affleck's "Air." These guys have teamed up on nearly a dozen projects, even for a brief cameo or minor supporting role. Recently, their partnership has intensified with the aforementioned "Air" and Ridley Scott's "The Last Duel," it's a shame they haven't found more films to work on together over the years, because these boys are wicked smaht.

To celebrate this long-running partnership, we decided...

When Ben Stiller was 8, he visited his father, Jerry, on the set of the movie The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and experienced a kind of epiphany. In the 1974 thriller set in the New York City subway, Jerry, who would enjoy a late-career resurgence 20 years later as Seinfeld‘s Frank Costanza, was playing a transit cop alongside Walter Matthau, and Ben was visiting during a night shoot, as lights on giant cranes shone down on the slick city streets around the Triborough Bridge.

“It was so cool, so cool,” says Stiller, now 59, recalling the scene as he looks out from the offices of his Red Hour Productions in the West Village in mid-January, over a sweeping view of the Hudson River. It’s the same view he had as a child at his family’s apartment on Riverside Drive some 70 blocks north. Jerry and actress Anne Meara, Ben’s mother,...

Joe Berlinger, the groundbreaking U.S. director known for HBO’s Emmy-winning true crime docuseries “Paradise Lost,” is set to direct a feature film that will reimagine the cold war thriller “Fail-Safe.”

The 1962 novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, which was originally adapted for the big screen by Sidney Lumet, depicts a harrowing scenario in which a “fail-safe” mechanical failure jams the United States military’s chain of command and sends the country hurtling toward nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

According to a statement, Berlinger’s take on the novel will use a “faux-cinéma vérité approach” to “reimagine what the world would look like today had the events in the book really happened in 1967, with the total nuclear annihilation of New York and Moscow.” The film “will combine high-stakes international drama and classic documentary-style storytelling to reinvent the Cold War political thriller for new audiences.”

Lumet’s successful...

Jack Lemmon was the two-time Oscar-winner who starred in dozens of films, working until his death in 2001 at the age of 76. But how many of those titles are classics? Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest movies, ranked worst to best.

Lemmon won his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for “Mister Roberts” (1955). A second Oscar for Best Actor followed for “Save the Tiger” (1973), making him the first person to pull off victories in both categories. He competed six more times for Best Actor throughout his career.

He is perhaps best known for his long collaboration with Walter Matthau, with whom he made 11 films. In films such as “The Fortune Cookie” (1966), “The Odd Couple” (1968), and “Grumpy Old Men” (1993), Lemmon’s fastidiousness played beautifully off of Matthau’s scruffiness.

On the small screen, Lemmon earned Emmys for “‘S Wonderful, ‘S Marvelous, ‘S Gershwin” (Best Variety Performer in 1972) and...

With all due respect to clean, uplifting, straightforwardly sweeping romances, sometimes there's nothing better than a movie that understands love's power of destruction. There's something timelessly alluring about a romance tale that veers into dark, untold places -- whether by exploring the secret underside of the romance itself, arriving at the romance through a twisty and wretched path, letting the romance explode into violent catharsis (or lack thereof), or seeing what happens when the romance brushes up against the brutality of the external world.

Below, you'll find a ranking of 15 great dark romance movies from every era of film history that do all that, telling love stories too somber, bloody, turbulent, or otherwise twisted to inspire anyone's wedding vows -- unless the couple in question is into some real off-the-cuff stuff. From a defiant medieval life partnership to a dangerous mid-20th-century Californian obsession, these are the best dark romance movies of all time.

Jennifer Garner worked alongside King of New York star Christopher Walken in the family-friendly feature Nine Lives. After their collaboration, Garner revealed whether Walken lived up to his mystique.

Jennifer Garner had a lot of fun working with Christopher Walken Christopher Walken | John Lamparski/Getty Images

Walken took a break from playing more disturbed characters to do Nine Lives. There, he played a whimsical magician and owner of an exotic pet store who couldn’t have been further from Walken’s usual roles. The Pulp Fiction actor worked alongside Kevin Spacey and Garner, who had nothing but kind words about the Batman Returns star. The Elektra star hoped that Nine Lives, where Spacey played a cat, would help reintroduce her older co-stars to a younger generation of movie-goers.

“This movie proves to be a fun family experience. It’s not an animated movie; it’s not a realistic movie. It’s just a fun family,...

He might be a master of frightening readers to ridiculous lengths, but there's more to author Stephen King than scares, psychotic clowns, and kids that shine. For one, his favorite film isn't even a horror: the writer of books like "The Shining," and Goodreads' highly-rated entry, "The Stand," deemed William Friedkin's "Sorcerer" his number-one watch. King is fond of praising movies online. In a list submitted to Entertainment Weekly in 2003, the author put together an interesting playlist of films that had caught his eye that year, including Tony Scott's "The Taking of Pelham 123." A remake of the 1974 film starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, Scott's take starred Denzel Washington as an Mta dispatcher who faced off against John Travolta as the leader of a gang of criminals who holding hostages on a subway train. 

Praising the film at the time, King said: "Director Tony Scott's most lucid and suspenseful movie.

Joan Plowright, the heralded actress of stage and screen who was also the widow to Laurence Olivier, has passed away. Dame Joan Plowright was 95.

A native of Lincolnshire, England, Joan Plowright – who studied at the famed Bristol Old Vic Theatre School – first made her London stage debut in the mid-’50s. Soon after, she was working alongside Laurence Olivier, then already a well-established icon of the stage and screen himself, having combined these talents in an almost unprecedented way with Henry V and Hamlet. (He was also fresh off of his divorce from Vivien Leigh.)

The month after Joan Plowright married Olivier, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for A Taste of Honey. Plowright remained committed to the stage, steadily appearing in productions into the early ‘90s. Some key productions include The Crucible; Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; Saturday, Sunday, Monday; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?...

Mash's Wayne Rogers exited the show early and went on to front his own medical comedy - a hit show that was quickly ruined by a disastrous firing. Wayne Rogers left Mash after season three, largely due to his role being gradually reduced. When the star signed on, the sitcom was intended as a two-hander focused on Rogers' Trapper John and Alan Alda's Hawkeye. When it became clear Alda was the breakout star, the writers focused their attention on him, while Trapper increasingly became the sidekick.

Following the shock death of Henry Blake in Mash's season 3 finale, Rogers decided to leave before the fourth series. Compared to many of the actors who exited Mash during its run, Rogers did quite well in the years that followed, including fronting the detective series City of Angels and appearing in gender-flipped It's a Wonderful Life remake It Happened One Christmas in...

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

Today we discuss the great Jack Lemmon with the great Mitchell Beaupre! Our B-Sides today include Cowboy, The April Fools, Tribute, and Out to Sea. There’s also a lengthy appreciation of Save the Tiger, which won Lemmon his second Oscar.

The three of us try to define how exactly Lemmon so perfectly encapsulated the average, American male for so many decades, while digging into his long career, that includes both filmmaker Billy Wilder and Walter Matthau. We discuss how Cowboy was ahead of its time, how The April Fools skates by on immense, charming chemistry, and how Tribute falters due to a stunted co-lead (sorry Robby Benson!).

There’s a lot in this episode. A true holiday gift! We...

When Kirk Douglas died in 2020 at the age of 103 (!), he left behind a massive legacy of over 90 films that even the most stalwart cineastes haven't been able to work their way through. Known for his affable smile and intense performances, Douglas is one of Hollywood's most famous leading men, and was the industry's most profitable actor throughout the 1950s. He was also a producing powerhouse, having started his own production company, Bryna Productions, which handled some of his best-known films. Bryna backed the Stanley Kubrick movies "Paths of Glory" and "Spartacus," as well as "The Vikings," "Seconds," "Seven Days in May," and, later on, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Douglas never lost sight of the evolving nature of film, rarely resting on trends or genres. 

In 1962, Bryna also backed a neo-Western called "Lonely Are the Brave." Set in the present day, "Brave" stars Douglas as a Korean War veteran...

Warning! This article contains Spoilers for Landman episode 3.Long before he played Tommy Norris in Landman, Billy Bob Thornton portrayed another character with the same hilariously crass sense of humor. Billy Bob Thornton is one of the best working actors in Hollywood, and he's dominated both movies and TV shows for decades. From drama to romance to Westerns like Tombstone, Thornton has essentially done it all. His most recent role, as Tommy in Landman, has highlighted his comedy skills, but Taylor Sheridan's series is far from the first time Thornton has played a hilarious and unrefined character.

In recent years, Billy Bob Thornton has mostly been known for his dramatic roles. His long-running role on the show Goliath and in the film The Gray Man both put him in rather serious positions, and he played them exceptionally well. Viewers who are less familiar with Thornton's early work may have...

Helen Gallagher, who won Tony Awards for Pal Joey and No, No, Nanette before starring as Maeve Ryan in all 13 seasons of daytime soap Ryan’s Hope, died November 24. She was 98.

Playbill confirmed the news on social media.

Born on July 19, 1926, in New York City, Gallagher already was a singing, dancing and acting veteran of numerous Broadway shows when she was cast as Gladys Bumps in the Chicago-set 1952 musical Pal Joey. Starring opposite Harold Lang and Vivienne Segal, she won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

She went on to appear in such Golden Age Broadway musicals as The Pajama Game, Mame, Finian’s Rainbow and Sweet Charity, earning a second Featured Actress Tony nom for playing Mickie alongside Gwen Verdon and Ruth Buzzi. She also performed in revivals of such classics as Guys and Dolls and Brigadoon.

In 1970 she was cast as the original Lucille Early in Broadway’s No,...

The 1970s were a huge turning point for thriller movies. During this decade, cinema turned up the suspense. It kept us on the edge of our seats, gripping the armrests of theater chairs with white-knuckled intensity. Imagine a decade filled with psychological tension, mind-bending plots, gritty crime dramas, and raw, unpredictable action. It’s as if the decade was made for film fans who wanted intense thrills. This list of the best 70s thriller movies showcases how the decade became a turning point for suspense and action in cinema.

The 1970s film thrillers didn’t just entertain; they changed the genre by combining aspects that would impact film for decades to come. Those jump scares, heart-pounding chases, and mind-bending turns redefined the rules of suspense.

The culture zeitgeist was the center of the best 1970s thrillers’ pulse, which went beyond the plot. The political unrest, Watergate scandals, and social upheaval...

Actor, Musician and Philanthropist Jeremy Renner to serve as Grand Marshal for the 92nd Anniversary of The Hollywood Christmas Parade Supporting Marine Toys for Tots.

The live parade presented in association with The City of Los Angeles will take place on the streets of Hollywood, CA on Sunday, December 1, 2024 starting at 6:00 p.m. at Hollywood landmark Tcl Chinese Theatre.

Jeremy Renner is an award-winning actor and dedicated philanthropist whose commitment to giving back is as integral to his identity as his celebrated film roles. In 2023, he founded the RennerVation Foundation, a youth-focused nonprofit dedicated to creating meaningful opportunities for children in foster care and at-risk youth. The foundation’s mission is to foster joy, growth, and a strong sense of belonging, offering these young individuals experiences and resources that allow them to embrace the fullness of childhood. With memorable performances in films including The Hurt Locker and the Avengers series,...

Ho-ho-Hawkeye. MCU and Mayor of Kingstown star Jeremy Renner will take the reindeer reins as grand marshal of the 92nd Hollywood Christmas Parade next month.

The two-time Oscar-nominated actor, who was badly injured in a snowplow accident nearly two years ago, will preside over the festivities starting at 6 p.m. Sunday, December 1. Launched in 1928, the parade is a longstanding Los Angeles tradition and serves as an official kickoff to the holiday season. It also collects and donations charities including the U.S. Marines’ Toys for Tots program.

“I’m honored to serve as the grand marshal for this year’s Hollywood Christmas Parade and excited to partner with Toys for Tots to bring joy to children in need,” Renner said in a statement. “Their mission aligns closely with the work we do at the RennerVation Foundation, creating meaningful experiences for at-risk youth. This season of giving is about spreading hope,...

Just Go with It is often considered to be one of the worst Adam Sandler movies, but one detail about it makes the fact that it is a remake of a 1969 Oscar-winning comedy so much funnier. While Adam Sandler has been in some great movies like Punch-Drunk Love and Uncut Gems, he has also been in a lot of bad comedies, earning him a negative reputation in the genre. However, Just Go with It is among the worst films that he is been in, with it continuing a trend of him appearing in remakes that are far worse than the originals.

Adam Sandler got his start in comedy movies, and while he has had some great ones like The Wedding Singer and Happy Gilmore, he has also been in a lot of really bad ones. The 2000s and 2010s saw Sandler appear in movies like Jack & Jill, Pixels, The Ridiculous Six,...

All October long, Cracked is catching up with some of the greatest writers in Simpsons history to discuss the most beloved segments from the “Treehouse of Horror” series. From the cursed monkey’s paw to Krusto the Clown, we’re digging into the making of some real fan-favorites.

When it comes to The Simpsons, longtime showrunner Al Jean has seen just about everything. Which means that when he’s picking show favorites, the competition is fierce. Maybe never more so than among “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, as he was half of the creative team behind the second one (with his stalwart writing partner Mike Reiss), and he’s played a role in pretty much every installment since.

When I ask him and Reiss for a favorite, though, the answer comes pretty easy: Season 26’s “Treehouse of Horror Xxv.”

Per usual, it contained three segments, all written by Stephanie Gillis. The first was “School Is Hell,...

The 1970s produced plenty of propulsive heist thrillers, helping to shape the crime genre for decades. Heist movies in the 1960s were typically classified by stylishness. Movies like Gambit, How to Steal a Million and Ocean's 11 presented a version of crime that was painless and suave. The following decade shook things up, reintroducing an element of danger that had been largely absent in the heist genre for years.

Some of the best heist movies ever made were produced in the 1970s, including Dog Day Afternoon and The Sting. Although these movies are just as funny as earlier films like The Italian Job or Take the Money and Run, they also have plenty of tension. The 1970s was the decade when heist movies started to balance humor and excitement, paving the way for later classics of the genre. The practical effects, clever plotting and great performances mean that these heist...

First impressions are everything — except when they’re not. While most sitcoms that struggle in their first season get the ax, there have been occasions when a network is so invested in the success of a star or a concept that they give it another shot after retooling things. Sometimes they ditch a few characters or switch the location; other times they go so far as to change the name of the show. Then they put it back out into the world and hope everyone forgets about the original incarnation.

Here are seven such shows that were retooled after (or during) their first season, with notably mixed results…

7 Ellen

Ellen DeGeneres’ mid-1990s ABC sitcom was a modest success. Its first season, though, was very different from those that would follow. For starters, it was called These Friends of Mine instead of Ellen. And a couple of those friends (played...

Born in 1920, Walter Matthau was a celebrated performer on both the stage and screen, known for his gruff, rumpled persona. Let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Matthau turned to acting after serving in the United States Army Air Force during WWII. He became a frequent presence on the small screen with appearances in “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Goodyear Playhouse,” and “The Du Pont Show of the Week” (which brought him an Emmy bid in 1963), to name a few. During this period he also appeared in several films, few of them comedies, including “A Face in the Crowd” (1957) and “Fail Safe” (1964).

At the same time, he gained increasing respect as a stage actor with Tony Award-winning performances in “A Shot in the Dark” (Featured Actor in a Play in 1962) and “The Odd Couple” (Actor in a Play in 1965). It was in the latter role of Oscar Madison,...

There was a time when Matt Damon was so renowned, his very name would give away the ending of a movie.

14 Gary Oldman

Oldman had on so much makeup in 2001’s Hannibal that he requested to “do it anonymously” for the theatrical release. But one Nathan Murray was credited as “Mr. Oldman's assistant,” which kind of gave away the game.

13 Matt Damon

Christopher Nolan thought having Damon’s name attached to 2014’s Interstellar would give away much of the story, because people would have a built-in expectation of him being a “good guy.”

12 Gene Hackman

Hackman had a big part in 1993’s The Firm, but Tom Cruise was given humongous billing that made his name the same size as the movie title in some instances. Upon learning that, Hackman was basically like: Screw it, don’t even credit me.

11 David Hyde Pierce

Pierce provided the voice for the character Abe Sapien in Hellboy,...

A while back, a terrific book about the golden age of action stars called “The Last Action Heroes” came out (buy it here). Written by Nick De Semlyen, the book takes a very affectionate look at all of the icons we grew up with in the 80s and 90s, with one notable exception. Steven Seagal does not come off well in the book – at all. One of the wildest stories from the book recounts a time when Seagal grew outraged over the fact that a meeting room he wanted was being occupied by the legendary Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

The two actors, who would have been in their late sixties then, were participating in a read-through for their hit comedy Grumpy Old Men. According to the book, the vibe in the room was light, with the two old pros cracking up their director, Daniel Petrie and assembled guests. One of them was William Osborne,...

Peter Marshall, who hosted the popular game show The Hollywood Squares for more than 15 years and had a long career as an actor, singer and comic, died today of kidney failure at his Encino home. He was 98. His publicist Harlan Boll confirmed to news to Deadline.

Marshall won four Daytime Emmys for hosting the syndicated Hollywood Squares from 1966-81. The tic-tac-toe game featured two contestants agreeing or disagreeing with celebrities who provided answers to Marshall’s questions — which ranged from silly to ribald. The format has been revived a few times over the years, with a new edition hosted by Nate Burleson with Drew Barrymore in the famed center square is to premiere in midseason.

Among the scores of stars who appeared on Hollywood Squares were Walter Matthau, Gloria Swanson, Glenn Ford, and Milton Berle, as well as regulars Paul Lynde — who often killed as the center square — Rose Marie,...

Gena Rowlands, the award-winning actress known for her roles in films such as A Woman Under the Influence, Gloria, and The Notebook, has died at the age of 94.

Rowlands died Wednesday, August 14th, at her home in Indian Wells, California, according to TMZ. She had been battling Alzheimer’s disease.

Hailing from Cambria, Wisconsin, Rowlands originally got her start in theater, studying drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Upon graduating, she starred in several repertory productions before making her Broadway debut in The Seven Year Itch. She later starred in the Broadway play Middle of the Night.

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Rowlands transitioned to a career in television. She starred in the syndicated television series Top Secret and made guest appearances on shows including Laramie, Riverboat, 77 Sunset Strip, and Dr. Kildare. She also appeared on several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

However,...

No sitcom archetype gets Flanderized faster than the Dumb Character. In fairness, Flanderization — the act of taking a single trait and magnifying it until it becomes the entire character — seems inevitable with dim-witted sitcom roles since there’s really nowhere to go but down (in Iq).

Here are five characters that had at least half a brain in their sitcom introductions, only to degenerate into complete and utter brainlessness…

1 Woody Boyd, ‘Cheers’

When Woody arrived at Cheers to take the place of his mentor, the addled Coach, he was a naive, unsophisticated innocent from Indiana. Characters who don’t know what’s going on can be a sitcom writer’s dream — when others need to explain to Doofus what’s happening, a lot of clunky exposition can be delivered quickly.

Woody’s naivety gave way to stupidity in Cheers’ later years. When you study the Constitution because you’re thinking about running for Congreff,...

Welcome back to Oscars Playback, in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng revisit Oscar ceremonies and winners of yesteryear. This week, we cover the 55th Academy Awards in 1983, honoring the films of 1982.

There was no suspense as to what would win heading into the ceremony. “Gandhi” dominated from top to bottom, winning eight awards from its leading 11 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Richard Attenborough and Best Actor for Ben Kingsley. The biopic did not have a Best Actress contender, but even if it did, there was no beating Meryl Streep, who prevailed for “Sophie’s Choice.” She was such a lock that even fellow nominee Debra Winger‘s parents were rooting for Streep.

See Oscars Playback: When ‘Chariots of Fire’ outran ‘Reds’ for the gold

1982 was a breakout year for Jessica Lange, who became the first performer in 38 years to receive two acting nominations...

Many people may not know this, but before Steven Seagal’s action movie heyday, he worked as a martial arts instructor and choreographer. Most famously, he was super agent Michael Ovitz’s martial arts teacher. Ovitz, notoriously, thought he could make anyone a movie star, and proved it by securing Steven Seagal a movie deal at Warner Bros, where he made Above the Law… and the rest was history.

Another guy Steven Seagal trained was Sean Connery, who was one of Ovitz’s first major clients. The agent paired Connery up with Seagal to get him into shape for the unofficial James Bond movie, Never Say Never Again. Connery was fifty-two at the time and had a couple of fight sequences in the film, so Seagal was brought in to whip him into shape. One day, while sparring, Seagal broke Connery’s wrist. The urban legend is that Connery did something that made him angry,...

The original 1964 Broadway production of "Hello, Dolly!" was considered a showcase for its star, Carol Channing, and little else. At the time, critics were not entirely kind, saying the show had "unnecessary vulgar and frenzied touches," and that they "wouldn't say that Jerry Herman's score is memorable." Despite the middling reviews, "Hello, Dolly!" won 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Leading Actress (for Channing), Best Direction, Best Choreography, and Best Original Score.

The mid-'60s were a weirdly fraught time for major Hollywood musicals, as the genre provided some of the era's biggest hits, but also some of its biggest bombs. In 1964, Disney had a big hit with "Mary Poppins" and Warner Bros. made bank with "My Fair Lady," so musicals were suddenly on the rise. In 1965, Fox released "The Sound of Music," adapted from the stage production by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and it proved to be one of...

Yentl.The publication of My Name Is Barbra, Barbra Streisand's 970-page memoir, has offered fans of the actress-singer-icon a long-awaited glimpse into her life. It’s a lot of book, a maximalist feast of details and anecdotes that paints a lavish portrait of the woman who became a generational star. It’s easy to forget just how much of Streisand's career was besieged by misogyny, whether it was critics' repeated derision of appearance or co-stars like Walter Matthau berating her on set. Streisand certainly never forgot, and her memoir offers frequent reminders of the sexism that hampered her path to success at every turn. Her memoir conveys an achingly detailed portrait of endurance by a wildly ambitious woman. Wherever she went, she was derided for trying to do or be “too much,” and she took pleasure in proving her detractors wrong in her inimitable style. When she chose to get behind the camera and direct,...

Jack Lemmon's commitment to vulnerable everyman characters made him one of the greatest actors of his generation. His performances in iconic movies like Glengarry Glen Ross showcased his range and skill as an actor. Lemmon's comedic chemistry with Walter Matthau in films like Grumpy Old Men proved his enduring comedic talent.

As acclaimed in comedy as he was in drama, Jack Lemmon was truly one of the greatest actors of the 20th century who imbued every role he played with a powerful sense of humanity. As a two-time Academy Award winner, and the first actor to win both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, Lemmon made Hollywood history over the course his more than 50-year career. Strongly associated with playing vulnerable everyman characters, Lemmon showcased a determinated commitment to every role he played in more than 60 movies.

With a long-standing comedic partnership with Walter Mattheau, iconic collaobortions with director Billy Wilder,...

Season 1 of "The Simpsons" is a whole different beast. You've got brown Mr. Smithers, character designs out of a Dr. Seuss book, and Homer inexplicably sounding like Walter Matthau. It's a charming affair, but it also hasn't yet turned into "The Simpsons" we've come to know and love.

What complicates the first season even more is the way that Fox aired certain episodes out of order. This was famously a much bigger problem with the classic era of "Futurama," but it also led to some inconsistencies in early "Simpsons." While the animation, character designs, and voices were all slowly evolving in the right direction throughout the first three seasons, the out-of-order episodes meant the show would sometimes take a seemingly random, large step back in animation quality. A case in point was the season 1 finale, "Some Enchanted Evening," which inexplicably looked closer to the old bumpers on "The Tracey Ullman Show...

At the inaugural Academy Awards in 1929, native Pennsylvanian Janet Gaynor made history as the first American-born performer to win an Oscar by taking the Best Actress prize for her body of work in “7th Heaven,” “Street Angel,” and “Sunrise.” Over the subsequent 95 years, 215 more thespians originating from the United States won the academy’s favor, meaning the country has now produced 68.1% of all individual acting Oscar recipients. Considering the last decade alone, the rate of such winners is even higher, at 70.3%.

At this point, 96.8% of American-born acting Oscar victors have hailed from one of 34 actual states. Of those constituting the remainder, three originated from the federal District of Columbia, while four were born in the territory of Puerto Rico. New York (home to 49 winners) is the most common birth state among the entire group, followed by California (34), Illinois (13), Massachusetts (11), and Pennsylvania (11).

Bearing in mind our specific birthplace focus, the 16 states...

World-renowned director Steven Spielberg was at the height of his career when he made the Oscar-winning film "Schindler's List," but he wasn't the only filmmaker who was interested in adapting the novel of the same name for the silver screen. The acclaimed director Billy Wilder, an auteur of classic Hollywood cinema who penned and directed such renowned films as "The Apartment" and "Sunset Boulevard," was also vying for the rights to turn this story into a movie. However, by the time Thomas Keneally's evocative historical novel was published in 1993, Wilder's career was already winding down.

For a long time, Wilder enjoyed one of the most prosperous careers in Hollywood. His Oscar-nominated 1944 film "Double Indemnity" is considered the signal film of noir cinema and the model of the femme fatale trope. After Wilder's smashing success "Sunset Boulevard" earned three Oscars in 1951, he quickly went on to release several star vehicles...

Elvis Presley starred in a large number of films, often appearing in multiple movies per year during the 1950s and 1960s. These films featured a mix of recognizable actors and unknowns who would later become major names in the industry. Notable actors such as Dick Sargent, Walter Matthau, Donna Douglas, Charles Bronson, Angela Lansbury, and Barbara Stanwyck appeared alongside Elvis in his movies, taking on both major and minor roles. Even actors who had uncredited or minor roles in Elvis Presley films went on to have successful careers. Examples include Jackie Coogan, Lee Majors, Vincent Price, and Kurt Russell, who made his film debut in an Elvis Presley movie and later portrayed Presley himself in a television movie.

Throughout the 31 feature films that Elvis Presley starred in, there were plenty of opportunity for him to share scenes with notable stars. While the movies of Presley can vary in quality and...

Snoop plays a former sports star who takes on losing pee-wee outfit in a charming comedy that has more than a passing resemblance to Bad News Bears

When laconic rapper-turned-actor Snoop Dogg is called on to appear in a film, he more often than not plays himself or a version thereof – and so it goes again in this salty but ultimately very wholesome sports movie. There’s even a sly parallel between the character Snoop plays and the efforts he’s made in the real world setting up an American football league for kids. Yes, his thespian range may be pretty limited, but there’s no denying Snoop has a palpable onscreen charisma and a good sense of comic timing that director Charles Stone III skilfully directs around.

The plot, as old as time – or at least as old as vintage 1976 comedy The Bad New Bears – posits Snoop as JJ,...

If you have any doubt about exactly what you are in for with Snoop Dogg’s first-ever starring role in a mainstream movie, The Underdoggs, you won’t after seeing the disclaimer that pops up on screen at the start of the film.

The Following Movie Is Rated-r For Strong Language That May Not Be Suitable For Children.

But F**K All That.

You Know As Well As I Do That The Kids Who Aren’T Supposed To Be Watching This Sh*T Curse More Than The Rest Of US Motherf**Kers.

So Stop Worrying, Kick Back, Relax And Enjoy The Motherf**King Show…

Any questions? The Underdoggs is a descendant of foul-mouthed R-rated comedies like Bad Santa merged with kid-driven sports movies like The Mighty Ducks (which it references in one scene) and especially The Bad News Bears, which was about a ragtag Little League team who cussed a...

It’s a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma.

So says Joe Pesci’s David Ferrie during a critical scene in Oliver Stone’s JFK, a movie being revisited for a few reasons. One is that Shout Factory just put out a 4K restoration that reissues both the director’s cut and theatrical cuts of these films. But, we’re also revisiting it due to the fact director Oliver Stone, more than thirty years after the film’s release, is still utterly fascinated by the assassination. His recent documentary, JFK: Through the Looking Glass, served as a bookend to the film, while another documentary, Citizen Stone, is in production and examines how the film, in some ways, served as his undoing, a notion I can’t say I agree with.

Whatever the case, JFK is a fascinating piece of work that was one of the most provocative films of the 90s.

If anyone is good at spotting hidden meanings in movies, it’s Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino wrote a book of film criticism in which he said one of Elvis Presley’s movies had a rich subtext. The film was helmed by one of the most consequential action movie directors of all time.

Quentin Tarantino felt 1 Elvis Presley movie is similar its director’s struggles in Hollywood

In his 2022 book Cinema Speculation, Tarantino talked about the work of film director Don Siegel of Dirty Harry fame. “But the rogue law enforcement officer, at odds with their superiors, who operates independently to get their man and enforce their own self-determined version of justice, is practically the quintessential Siegel protagonist,” he wrote. “Even his criminals go rogue.

“Mickey Rooney’s Baby Face Nelson stands in direct contrast to Leo Gordon’s Dillinger, and both Walter Matthau’s Charley Varrick and Burt Reynolds’ cat burglar...

Elvis Presley’s acting career never reached its fullest potential, but many of the people who worked with him praised his ability on screen. Eventually, though, his acting career took a downturn. Still, two of his friends said they watched him give one of his best performances in the mid-1970s. They couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable as he performed it, though.

Elvis Presley gave an incredible but uncomfortable acting performance to his friends

In the 1970s, Elvis brought his friends to Denver for a ski trip. They had traveled there after a tour, and everyone was exhausted and irritable. Still, Linda Thompson, Jerry Schilling, and Myrna Smith rallied enough to celebrate Elvis’ 41st birthday with him.

Elvis had seemed glum, but he perked up when Smith said she hadn’t seen the movie Across 110th Street. It was his favorite film, and he launched into a detailed explanation of its plot.

In the 1920s, a pair of comedians were paired together by chance, and showed a chemistry that caught the attention of audiences; Laurel and Hardy went on to make over 100 short and feature-length films that pioneered movie comedy. Over the next few decades, the studios were quick to seize upon a popular pairing, both comedic and romantic, creating some of the most popular duos in screen history – some of which carried over into offscreen friendships and real-life love stories. In the years since the downfall of the studio system, actors haven’t been paired as they were during the Golden Age, when they were contracted to do a studio’s bidding, but friendships and mutual respect has led to some memorable modern-day pairings.

From the earliest days of cinema to Abbott and Costello to Martin and Lewis to Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, a successful comedy pairing can lead to big box office returns.

There are films you watched every time they pop up on TCM or streaming services. It’s like visiting an old friend. These movies put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. And one such film is “Charade,” which celebrates its 60th anniversary on Dec. 5. Deftly directed by Stanley Donen from a fun and thrilling Peter Stone screenplay, “Charade” stars Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn who exude a William Powell/Myrna Loy style chemistry that leaps off the screen. And let’s not forget that gorgeous Henry Mancini score, the romantic Oscar-nominated title tune “Charade,” with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and the pulsating Saul Bass title sequence.

I saw “Charade” when it was released, and I’ve probably seen it at least 15 more times. And each time seems like the first. Not many films have that kind of power. A 2010 Criterion Collection article by film historian...

Sitcoms are among some of the most beloved TV shows ever made. Unlike respected premium drama series like "The Wire," "Breaking Bad," or "True Detective," which regularly top lists of the greatest TV shows ever made, shows like "Friends," "Seinfeld," "Cheers," and "The Office" are beloved in a way that feels a lot more personal. Sitcoms are feel-good experiences, even when they're shows about nothing, and are the exact opposite of David Fincher's intense thrillers.

Which is why I can't shake the feeling that the auteur is making fun of himself with his latest effort. As /Film's Chris Evangelista wrote in his review of "The Killer," "I'm not saying Fincher is on the same level as a cold-blooded killer, but he clearly sees a lot of himself (and his approach to his work) in his latest protagonist." But if the director was trying to draw this parallel between the...

From the 1960s to the 1990s, Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon made 10 movies together, and the pair developed quite a reputation for being one of Hollywood’s wildest duos, a bond that served them well in their collaborations. Before Matthau passed away in 2000, we’d spoken to him several times, and he talked to us about the chemistry that he and Lemmon shared. (Click on the media bar below to hear Walter Matthau) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Walter_-Matthau_Jack_Lemmon_.mp3

The post Walter Matthau’s Recipe For Success: Just Add Lemmon appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Matthew Perry, the actor known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom “Friends,” has died. He was 54.

Perry was found dead Saturday in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times. Authorities found him unresponsive around 4 p.m., and there was no signs of foul play or drugs on the scene.

Perry gained international recognition for his role as the wry, fast-on-his-feet twentysomething Chandler on “Friends,” which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. He earned a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2002 for his performance on the iconic sitcom. Among the six stars in the “Friends” ensemble, Perry was ambitious as a performer and a producer, but he also grappled with a long struggle with substance abuse that stunted his career. Later in life, particularly with his 2022 book, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir,” Perry focused much of his energy...

Elaine Devry, an actress who appeared in such films as The Atomic Kid and A Guide for the Married Man and on dozens of TV shows after becoming the fourth of Mickey Rooney’s eight wives, has died. She was 93.

Devry died Sept. 20 in her home in Grants Pass, Oregon, according to a notice placed on a local funeral home website.

Devry married Rooney in Las Vegas in November 1952 and made her first onscreen acting appearances the next year in the Rooney-starring comedy film A Slight Case of Larceny and on an episode of the Ronald Reagan-hosted CBS anthology series General Electric Theater.

In the Republic Pictures sci-fi comedy The Atomic Kid (1954), directed by Leslie H. Martinson, she was introduced as “Elaine Davis (Mrs. Mickey Rooney),” and her character, a nurse, marries her husband’s Barnaby “Blix” Waterberry at the end of the movie.

In A Guide for the Married Man...

James Brolin on Wednesday clarified he was mistakenly referring to the 1973 film “The Way We Were” in an interview with Bill Maher in which he said his wife, Barbra Streisand, was working on redoing the ending.

“The Way We Were” is, in fact, being re-released Oct. 17 on Blu-ray for its 50th anniversary, not “Funny Girl.”

Brolin released a statement of clarification to TheWrap.

“To My Wife Barbra and all her fans,” the statement said. “Drinking tequila with Bill Maher on his ‘Club Random’ podcast recently, I mistakenly mentioned the wrong film. I meant to say my wife was working on ‘The Way We Were.‘ Apologies for all the confusion … Jim Brolin.”

Original story is below:

“Funny Girl,” the smash hit that cemented Barbra Streisand’s place in Hollywood at the ripe age of 26, ended with her protagonist, Fanny Brice, separating from her husband after he was released from prison.

Fifty-five years later,...

Actors who have played real-life presidents have received Oscar nominations, but only one actor has actually won an Oscar for playing a president. Many respected actors have taken on the responsibility of portraying historical figures, such as Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson, and the Academy has recognized their performances. From Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon to Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, actors have faced the challenge of portraying controversial presidents, often with mixed critical and audience responses.

Despite the Academy's love of historical epics and biopics, they have given eight Oscar nominations to actors who played real-life presidents. Getting cast as a president is a massive responsibility for any actor. Most of the audience comes into the movie with a preconceived notion of how Richard Nixon should be portrayed, yet the actor has to find a way to make the president feel like a real person and not a caricature.

As any critic will tell you, when you’re watching a comedy with an audience, it doesn’t matter how bad the movie is — even the jokes that are making you groan are going to provoke laughter. (That’s why comedies are always screened with a crowd; the studios want the audience giggles to rub off on you.) But at the Venice Film Festival, when I saw “The Palace,” Roman Polanski’s garish debacle of an ensemble comedy, I was sitting in the Sala Darsena, which seats 1400 (and was full), and on the rare occasion when a line in the movie got laughs, it was literally coming from about six people. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard a giant theater this deadly silent for a movie that’s working this strenuously to amuse you.

Polanski, if you look back over his credits, has an astoundingly consistent track...