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The filmmakers behind prominent documentaries on casting directors and the #MeToo movement have set their sights on another Hollywood subject: the evolution of the performers’ union SAG-AFTRA.

Director-producer Tom Donahue and producer Ilan Arboleda are working on a film about the transformation of the labor organization union between 2008, when the Writers Guild of America struck film and television studios and the Screen Actors Guild considered (but ultimately did not realize) their own work stoppage, and 2024, in the aftermath of the union’s landmark 118-day actors’ strike. The film will represent the culmination of interviews that have spanned a decade conducted by the filmmakers, whose project will additionally cover the union’s history and its longtime fight to create a middle class of actors, they shared with The Hollywood Reporter.

With two previous projects under their CreativeChaos vmg banner, the filmmaking team has leveraged Hollywood narratives to tell larger stories about...

For three decades the story of stone creatures come to life has both entertained and fascinated viewers. Originally airing on a program block associated with light hearted children’s entertainment showed that animation could be much more than just “kids stuff”. Let us revisit the mysterious and enchanted world of Disney’s Gargoyles.

Created by producer Greg Wiseman, the series stood out against its contemporaries at the Disney Afternoon program block. Unlike other shows focused on gags and slapstick comedy, Gargoyles took a darker and more episodic approach similar to Batman: The Animated Series, which aired around the same time.

The series saw a group of Gargoyles who had been frozen for millennia awaken in New York City. They decide to make the city their new home and defend it from various threats.

They are led by Goliath (Keith David) with the rest of the clan being named after various...

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Every comedy team needs a straight man. Lou Costello had Bud Abbot. The Marx Brothers had Margaret Dumont. The Three Stooges had everyone they came in contact with. And while it may not sound like a good deal of fun to be the person setting up the funny folks for laughs, it does take a lot of skill to do it proficiently. And any comedian worth their weight in yuks knows the better the setup, the bigger the laugh.

This applies to many sitcoms, where the cast of zanies needs a steadily turning planet around which to wildly orbit. If you're really good at it, there could be multiple Primetime Emmys coming to you (e.g. Ed Asner won three for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"). And if you happen to find yourself on "Gilligan's Island," while there might not...

Conceived by Barbara Pyle and media mogul Ted Turner, Captain Planet was an ecological hero way ahead of his time. The animated series ran for years with some nifty design work by Neal Adams and his Continuity Associates. Each episode featured an adventure and a lesson (of course). It endeared itself to a generation of viewers and remained an enduring figure from the 1990s.

Now, Warner Home Entertainment has released Captain Planet the Complete Franchise, with 41 hours and 31 minutes of environmental goodness. For silly legal reasons, the show has two titles evenly split among its six seasons: Captain Planet and the Planeteers (animated by Dic) and The New Adventures of Captain Planet (animated by Hanna-Barbera) for the final three seasons.

Gaia, the spirit of Earth, was voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, who set the tone and standard for the entire series. She was accompanied by a voice cast that included Margot Kidder...

Nicholas Pryor, whose nearly seven-decade acting career included hundreds of episodes of soap operas, playing Tom Cruise’s dad in Risky Business and Kathleen Robertson’s dad on Beverly Hills, 90210, died October 7. He was 89.

Fellow actor Jon Lindstrom announced the news on social media, saying in part: “Nick was an Actor’s actor, and an exceptional friend. … He was a mentor, a sounding board, a trusted confidant, and even a father-figure beyond, yes, playing my own father on #Gh and #PortCharles.” See his full post below.

Pryor racked up nearly 175 screen credits and half-dozen more on Broadway. After getting his screen start guesting on such 1950s and early ’60s TV series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Doctors, he played Tom Baxter in more than 75 episodes of the NBC daytime drama Another World. That led to a starring role on The Nurses, a 1965-67 continuation of CBS’ The Nurses, which...

Nicholas Pryor, the busy character actor who portrayed Tom Cruise’s father in Risky Business and Kathleen Robertson’s dad on Beverly Hills, 90210 during a career that spanned seven decades, has died. He was 89.

Pryor died Monday of cancer at his home in Wilmington, North Carolina, his wife, actress Christine Belford, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In a note to be delivered to THR after his death, he wrote: “Nicholas Pryor was enormously grateful to have been, for nearly 70 years, a working actor.”

From 1997-2002, Pryor played the former spy Victor Collins on the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles, culminating a long career in daytime soap operas that included stints on The Secret Storm, The Edge of Night, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, All My Children and Another World.

Pryor recurred on Fox’s Beverly Hills, 90210 as A. Milton Arnold, the chancellor of California University and father of Robertson’s Claire Arnold,...

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Ginny & Georgia is a comedy-drama series created by Sarah Lampert. The Netflix series follows the titular mother-and-daughter duo of Ginny and Georgia as they try to start their new life in a suburb in New England but quickly realize that Georgia’s less-than-perfect is coming back to haunt them. Ginny & Georgia stars Brianne Howey and Antonia Gentry in the lead roles with Diesel La Torraca, Jennifer Robertson, Felix Mallard, Sara Waisglass, and Scott Porter starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the unbreakable bonds, heartwarming stories, and compelling characters in Ginny & Georgia here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Gilmore Girls (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – The WB

Gilmore Girls is a comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino. The WB and later on The CW series revolves around the mother-daughter...

Ambition has almost always been a thorny issue for television’s fictional females. When Mary Richards applied for a secretarial job at a local television station in Minneapolis on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the 1970s, she ended up as an associate producer by the end of the interview. News director Lou Grant gave her the elevated title so he could pay her less, implicitly signaling that there was a price for women moving up the career ladder. It was an ingenious way for the writers on the show to set Mary on a career path without making her appear overly ambitious and thus, less feminine. Mary didn’t negotiate and was grateful for the unexpected promotion.

Approximately 50 years later, stand-up comic Deborah Vance, played by the inimitable Jean Smart, on “Hacks” finds herself navigating a similar conundrum when she discovers that her dream job, a spot as a...

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Kevin Can F**k Himself is a brilliant dark comedy series starring Schitt’s Creek‘s Annie Murphy. The AMC series is created by Valerie Armstrong, and it tells the story of Allison McRoberts, who seems very happy on the outside as she looks like all the sitcom wives we have seen before in countless comedy shows but something else is going on inside. The series follows Allison as she tries to break out of her unhappy life. Alongside Murphy, the series also stars Marry Hollis Inboden, Eric Peterson, Alex Bonifer, Brian Howe, and Raymond Lee. So, if you loved the dark comedy, personal story, and compelling characters in Kevin Can F**k Himself here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Bad Sisters (Apple TV+) Credit – Apple TV+

Bad Sisters is an Irish dark comedy-drama series developed by Sharon Horgan,...

Frank Griffin, who nosed out another makeup artist to work with Steve Martin on Roxanne, just one of the 20 movies they did together, has died. He was 95.

Griffin died Wednesday of cancer at his home in Studio City, his daughter Roxane Griffin, a veteran Hollywood hairstylist (Avatar, Transparent, 80 for Brady), told The Hollywood Reporter.

Frank Griffin started out in Hollywood as an actor and studio laborer before turning to makeup in the mid-1960s, and he went on to work on Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Scarecrow (1973), Westworld (1973), Cinderella Liberty (1973), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Urban Cowboy (1980), Midnight Run (1988), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Vacation (1983), Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985).

Survivors also include his sister Debra Paget, who starred in such films as Broken Arrow (1950), Love Me Tender (1956) — Elvis Presley’s first movie — and The Ten Commandments (1956).

His other two sisters were actresses as well: Lisa Gaye,...

Lately, in between reviews of swanky limited series and dramas desperate to be “Game of Thrones,” I’ve been using my non-work-related TV time re-watching “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” What a comfort. What a joy. What an escape. The weary modern world is filled with I.P.-driven franchise extensions and comedies that aren’t really comedies, whereas Moore’s iconic ’70s sitcom gets laughs every other sentence from its simple setting in snowy Minnesota. Credit to the phenomenal cast (somehow Ted Knight and Ed Asner’s five Emmy wins in six years weren’t enough), the smartly designed, blessedly humble studio apartment (her new digs in Season 6 are more offensive than the episode where Murray professes his love for Mary), and good jokes elevated by a precise understanding of their punchlines. I can’t tell you how often I’ve burst out laughing because of a clever twist on the expected kicker,...

Autism Speaks, the largest autism advocacy group dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism spectrum disorder throughout their lifespan, is hosting its reimagined Los Angeles Gala at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood on Thursday, October 24, 2024.

The inspired event invites guests to “Journey Back to Old Havana for an Evening at the Copacabana,” invoking the romance and intrigue of a bygone era.

This year, Autism Speaks is honoring advocate Tallulah Willis, who has joined Autism Speaks in fostering understanding and inclusivity for the autism community since receiving her autism diagnosis earlier this year at age 30. Tullulah Willis is the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

An entrepreneur and artist based in Los Angeles, Willis has been open about her mental health struggles and uses her platform to advocate for awareness and self-care in the hopes that her journey will serve as inspiration for those facing their own challenges.

The late Bob Newhart began his comedy career, weirdly enough, while working a mind-numbing job as a copywriter in 1958. The job was so dull that Newhart and a co-worker would regularly call each other's desks and play-act comedic scenarios just to keep their minds occupied. They felt their conversations were funny enough to record, and submitted them to local radio stations. When his co-worker quit and moved away, Newhart recorded similar comedic phone conversations, made all the funnier that one could only hear his end of them. That became Newhart's shtick for many years, and he released his first comedy record, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart," in 1960.

That led to a stint on "The Ed Sullivan Show," and, shortly thereafter, the launch of 1961's "The Bob Newhart Show". Newhart was a TV legend, a comedy icon, and a consummate performer. His death marks a sad day for the world.

Jon Favreau swore off directing Marvel Cinematic Universe movies after "Iron Man 2," but Kevin Feige might want to consider whether it's worth trying to change his mind. Marvel Studios hasn't been having the best time in the past couple of years, what with a seemingly-constant barrage of MCU content making everyone uninterested in the superhero genre. Up until the studio's recent decision to dial back the amount of media it was putting out, we had too much of the MCU and it was getting ridiculous. But back in 2008, when Favreau was hired to direct the inaugural film in this now-gargantuan franchise, things looked very different.

"Iron Man" became the unlikely superhero film that changed Hollywood forever, establishing what would become the highest-grossing blockbuster franchise in cinema history. Without Favreau at the helm, however, there's every reason to think the McU's start wouldn't have been quite so auspicious. Not only...

In 2024, Donald Glover earned his fifth acting Emmy nomination for his dramatic star turn on “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” Since most of his earlier bids came for his work on the comedy series “Atlanta,” he was welcomed into a group of 17 other actors with lead or supporting bids for both program genres. Scroll through our photo gallery to find out who preceded him in joining this club.

To date, the only actors who have won Emmys as both comedy and drama series regulars are Ed Asner (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”; “Lou Grant”), Carroll O’Connor (“All in the Family”; “In the Heat of the Night”), Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H”; “The West Wing”), and John Lithgow (“3rd Rock from the Sun”; “The Crown”). Another five men on this roster only won for their dramatic roles, while three more only succeeded on their comedy bids.

Every actor included in this gallery was nominated...

In 2024, Donald Glover earned his fifth acting Emmy nomination for his dramatic star turn on “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” Since most of his earlier bids came for his work on the comedy series “Atlanta,” he was welcomed into a group of 17 other actors with lead or supporting bids for both program genres. Scroll through our photo gallery to find out who preceded him in joining this club.

To date, the only actors who have won Emmys as both comedy and drama series regulars are Ed Asner (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”; “Lou Grant”), Carroll O’Connor (“All in the Family”; “In the Heat of the Night”), Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H”; “The West Wing”), and John Lithgow (“3rd Rock from the Sun”; “The Crown”). Another five men on this roster only won for their dramatic roles, while three more only succeeded on their comedy bids.

Every actor included in this gallery was nominated...

Variety, along with her partner, musician Dan Gilroy, have confirmed that Shelley Duvall, best known for her roles in The Shining and Nashville, has died. She passed away on Thursday, July 11 in Blanco, Texas.

Shelley Duvall – Her Impact In The World Of Films

Duvall’s work with Stanley Kubrick in The Shining, which required extensive shooting that took over a year to complete, was said to push the actress to her limits.

Some of the scenes needed over 100 takes, with the baseball sequence appearing in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most takes needed in a single dialogue seen.

Shelley is also well-known for her work with director Robert Altman, and her performance in his 3 Woman, where she received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA nomination.

Her first onscreen appearance was in Altman’s Brewster McCloud, and went on to work with the...

Shelley Duvall, the big-eyed, waifish performer who won the Cannes actress award for Robert Altman’s “3 Women” and endured Stanley Kubrick’s intense directing techniques to star in “The Shining,” died Thursday in Blanco, Texas, Variety confirmed with her partner Dan Gilroy. She was 75.

Duvall was known for working with director Altman, who cast her in “Brewster McCloud” as her first screen role. She went on to appear in his films “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” and “Thieves Like Us” before starring as part of the ensemble cast of “Nashville” in 1975. After gaining attention in “Nashville,” Altman cast her in “Buffalo Bill and the Indians,” then gave her unusual screen presence a chance to shine in “3 Women,” for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress as well as a BAFTA nomination.

Also in 1977, Duvall played a Rolling Stone journalist in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall,...

Land of Women is Apple TV+’s comedy-drama thriller series created by Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira, Teresa Fernández-Valdés, and Paula Fernández. Inspired by Sandra Barneda‘s bestselling novel titled La Tierra de las Mujeres, the Apple TV+ series follows the story of Gala, a middle-aged woman who suddenly has to flee to a small town in Spain with her mother and young daughter because of some dangerous people her husband owes money to. If you loved the feel-good, romantic, and comedy aspect of Land of Women, here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Dead to Me (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Dead to Me is a dark comedy-drama series created by Liz Feldman. The Netflix series follows the story of Jen, a recently widowed woman whose husband died in an unsolved hit-and-run case, and now she is determined to solve the crime. During a support group session she meets...

Pixar Animation Studios has been something of an industry standard-bearer for nearly three decades. In the fall of 1995, they not only proved that computer animation could be utilized to tell a full feature-length story with "Toy Story," but they also proved that there were different types of stories that could be told in all-ages animation, introducing us to the worlds of toys, monsters, talking cars, superheroes, and more. This summer marks the return of yet another of their beloved original films, as the 2015 classic "Inside Out" gets a sequel in the form of "Inside Out 2."

The marketing for "Inside Out 2" has leaned heavy on one thing: new characters. In the first film, we met the five core emotions driving the mind of young Riley as she moved with her family from Minnesota to San Francisco. Now that she's ensconced in the Bay Area, Riley has all-new emotions, which...

Judge Reinhold is reflecting on one of the most iconic film sequences of the 1980s: his “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” masturbation scene.

The “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” actor told Vanity Fair that while the scene is “kind of creepy” out of context, it played to the dark humor of his character Brad, who is experiencing one of the worst days of his life. Reinhold admitted, though, that it was “awkward” to film the sequence with co-star Phoebe Cates.

Reinhold’s Brad imagines Cates’ character taking off her bikini top while getting out of the pool in a private moment. But then the door opens and she catches him mid-act. In fact, that single scene led an executive to deem the film “pornography” and threatened to shelve the Universal release.

“If you take that scene out of context, it’s kind of creepy. But to me, it was very...

Who is the best male TV star of all time? Our photo gallery above takes on the tough task of ranking the 50 greatest actors and performers. Agree or disagree with our choices?

With over 70 years of television to consider, we had to provide ourselves with a few rules to help simplify things. One of those was that every man in our gallery must have been an ongoing leading star at some point, preferably more often than not. That’s why you will not see such classic supporting actors as Art Carney, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Peter Dinklage and more. We also do not include any news/sports anchors or journalists such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell since they are not performers.

In order to place them in the rankings, we were looking at a combination of quality (top rated shows with the public or critics...

Janis Paige, the ebullient redhead who starred in the original Broadway production of The Pajama Game and in such Hollywood musicals as Silk Stockings and Romance on the High Seas, has died. She was 101.

Paige, who was discovered in the 1940s while performing at the legendary Hollywood Canteen, died Sunday of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, her friend Stuart Lampert announced.

Paige starred on her own network sitcom, playing a widowed nightclub singer struggling to raise her 10-year-old daughter, on the 1955-56 CBS series It’s Always Jan, and she had recurring roles as Dick van Patten’s free-spirited sister on ABC’s Eight Is Enough and as a hospital administrator on CBS’ Trapper John, M.D.

The actress also turned in two memorable guest-starring stints in 1976, playing an attractive diner waitress named Denise who tempts Archie (Carroll O’Connor) to cheat on Edith (Jean Stapleton) on All in the Family...

My Adventures with Superman is one of the most brilliant superhero animated series. Created by Brendan Clougher, Jake Wyatt, and Josie Campbell, the Adult Swim series tells the story of Superman aka Clark Kent as he starts his new job at The Daily Planet, with his roommate Jimmy Olson, and his senior intern at The Daily Planet who is none other than Lois Lane. They quickly become a team and try to bring in big stories so that they can become real reporters while Clark also tries to become the hero he is meant to be. My Adventures with Superman has great action but the brilliant thing about the series is that it isn’t an action series about Superman, it’s a series about a superhero and his relationships as he figures out who he really is. So, if you love the heart, optimism, great story, and fantastic animation...

Whether one is looking for a giggle or some quick inspiration, Pixar's Up remains one of the studio's most quotable movies. 

Following the curmudgeonly Carl (played by Ed Asner) and energetic boy scout Russell (Jordan Nagai), the 2009 Disney blockbuster tells the story of an old man who reignites his sense of adventure by attempting to fly his house to South America to honor his dearly departed wife, Ellie. 

On the journey, Carl, Russell, and the rest of the Up cast have some relatable, emotional, and sometimes downright hilarious quotes that have lived on long after the film's initial release. 

Read full article on The Direct.

Minnie Driver said during a recent interview on Jameela Jamil’s “I Weigh” podcast that producers on her 1998 disaster movie “Hard Rain” allegedly told her not to wear a wetsuit while filming with rain machines because “they wanted to see my nipples” (via Entertainment Weekly). The film, directed by Mikael Salomon, opened a year after Driver’s breakthrough in “Good Will Hunting,” which earned her an Oscar nomination. Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater headlined “Hard Rain.”

“It’s set during this massive storm, there were huge rain machines. We shot crazy hours. It was tough,” Driver told Jamil. “Everybody else could wear a wetsuit underneath their costume, and I was told by the producers that I couldn’t because they wanted to see my nipples, and that there was no point in having the wet t-shirt if you couldn’t have what was underneath it.”

Driver said she pushed back...

Seven years ago, Donald Glover won his first two Emmys, Best Comedy Actor and Best Comedy Directing for “Atlanta.” While he missed out on nominations last year for the final season of his FX series — he did receive a writing bid for “Swarm” — Glover is back in the hunt this cycle with “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” Inspired by the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie film of the same name, the spy series is competing in drama, which means Glover could become just the second man and third person to win lead Emmys in comedy and drama.

Carroll O’Connor is thus far the only male performer to have achieved this, having pocketed a record-setting four Best Comedy Actor Emmys for “All in the Family” in 1972 and three in a row from 1977-79 before adding a Best Drama Actor statuette for “In the Heat of the Night” in 1989. The only other member...

“Altered Reality” is a new live-action supernatural mystery thriller, directed by Don E. FauntLeRoy, starring Tobin Bell, Alyona Khmara, Krista Dane Hoffman, Edward Asner and Lance Henriksen, opening February 16, 2024 in theaters:

“…’Oliver Cook’ is a wealthy businessman dealing with the loss of his only child. Now the events of his past may be the key in discovering the truth…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

If there’s a holy grail of awards opening monologues, it’s Judd Apatow’s at the DGA Awards.

In typical fashion, the filmmaker who is known for his killer Bill Cosby impersonation, took the mic for the fifth time to host the DGA Awards — with the opening monologue cut off to the press room. Don’t ask why that is in a post Trump era political environment.

Apatow won over the room with his jokes about how hasty the DGA came to an agreement with the AMPTP, M&As and how Byron Allen could be the ultimate buyer of all media companies, and SAG-AFTRA president as “the voice of reason” during the swamps of the strike.

“My agent said I should hold out for more money, but in the spirt of the DGA, I accepted their first offer!” ribbed the 40-Year Old Virgin director in reference to how fast...

"Some people think of a time in a straight line... they're wrong..." K Street Pictures has revealed an official trailer for an indie psychological thriller titled Altered Reality, from filmmaker / cinematographer Don E. FauntLeRoy. Despite an intriguing cast, this looks as bad as they come. Another spin on a miracle drug that gives special powers, which just reminds me of that Limitless movie. Oliver's life transforms when gifted a not-yet-existing miracle drug. Riches, unscrupulous pacts, and morphing of past & present create an altered reality, in this gripping tale of redemption & choices. Altered Reality is directed by Don E. FauntLeRoy and written by Charles Agron, who also produces and stars in this film. The cast includes Tobin Bell, Charles Agron, Alyona Khmara, and Krista Dane Hoffman, with Edward Asner and Lance Henriksen. Aside from some terrible mixing in this trailer, it's hard to make any sense of whatever is going on in here.

Nonagenarian actress June Squibb is making her first ever in-person appearance at the Sundance Film Festival this year as the star of Josh Margolin’s comedy-action-drama Thelma about a grandmother who goes after an internet scammer.

“I’ve had films show there before but either I was working or wasn’t that interested in the film,” says 94-year-old Squibb, who was Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska in 2013.

In Thelma, she plays a 93-year-old L.A. grandmother, living happily alone and unassisted in her beloved condo in the Valley, whose independence is threatened when she is scammed out of $10,000 by a caller impersonating her grandson.

Initially ashamed and flummoxed by her gullibility, Thelma is inspired to embark on a mission to track down the thief after seeing a newspaper headline celebrating Tom Cruise’s age-defying Mission Impossible career.

No longer in the possession of 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.

It's time to rent a Family Truckster, cue up Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road," and hope our wife doesn't catch us checking out a mysterious hot babe in a sports car -- because it's time to rank all of the films in the "Vacation" franchise. Part family drama, part romantic comedy, part slapstick showcase, and 100 percent a showcase for Chevy Chase to prove why he's Chevy Chase and we're not, National Lampoon's "Vacation" series is home to some of the best bits in American comedy cinema.

Whether they're staying at home for the holidays, pressing their luck in Vegas, traveling cross country, or flying overseas, the Griswolds have set the bar hellishly low for family vacations (which means the only place to go is up for the rest of us). Sure, some of the jokes have seen better days, but the longevity of the series lies with the relatable family...

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

It's a movie about a mad bomber who puts a bomb on a vehicle, and if that vehicle stops it's going to blow up. So the authorities try to figure out who the bomber is, but he's too clever to be captured, while the people in the vehicle do everything in their power to keep the engine running, find the bomb, and defuse it before it blows up.

That's the plot of the Oscar-winning blockbuster "Speed," directed by Jan De Bont and written by Christopher Yost (with an uncredited but substantial rewrite by Joss Whedon). When "Speed" came out in 1994 the premise seemed pretty novel, taking the already tried-and-true premise of "Die Hard on a [Blank]" and setting it on a bus that can't stop plowing through traffic in the middle of the day in Los Angeles, where there is — take it from...

Clockwise from bottom left: Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa (Miramax), Ed Asner in Elf (New Line Cinema), and Edmund Gwenn in Miracle On 34th Street (20th Century Flox) Graphic: The A.V. Club Tis the season to talk movie Santas. With Christmas upon us, we decided to dig deep into...

Clockwise from bottom left: Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa (Miramax), Ed Asner in Elf (New Line Cinema), and Edmund Gwenn in Miracle On 34th Street (20th Century Flox)Graphic: The A.V. Club

Tis the season to talk movie Santas. With Christmas upon us, we decided to dig deep into...

Norby Walters, a music agent who worked with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, Kool & the Gang and Public Enemy before gaining renown in Hollywood for his annual “Night of 100 Stars” Oscar party and weekly poker game, has died. He was 91.

Walters died Dec. 10 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Burbank, his son, producer Gary Michael Walters (Whiplash), told The Hollywood Reporter.

Walters hosted his first Oscar night gala in 1990 and the last in 2017, most often inside the Beverly Hilton’s Crystal Ballroom. Among those who attended were Shirley Jones, Robert Forster, Charles Bronson, Patricia Neal, Richard Dreyfuss, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Landau, Louis Gossett Jr., J.K. Simmons, Cliff Robertson, Red Buttons, Jon Voight and Allison Janney.

Walters for years also presided over a weekly poker game at his West Hollywood high-rise condo. The low-stakes $2 game was, his son said, “designed to be a place where actors could kibbutz,...

Twenty years later, it’s fair to argue that Elf is the last great Christmas movie. This Jon Favreau classic, which also marked a significant turning point in Will Ferrell’s career, came out during a holiday season that was awash in memorable Yuletide flicks, with adult-skewing audiences getting to spike their eggnog via Love Actually and Bad Santa. Yet in addition to being the only one of those three films that was suitable for the whole family, Elf has also aged the best. The movie, is in fact, magic.

There are more than a few reasons why Elf works as well as it does. Favreau’s choice to use intentionally antiquated stop-motion effects in the North Pole sequences, and therefore echo his own childhood memories of watching TV specials like Rankin/Bass’ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), still charms. Whereas many other big budget Santa movies of the 1990s and...

It’s the final month of 2023, and Hulu is just saying goodbye not just to the year but also to dozens of its top film titles. This December, the streamer will lose multiple franchise collections, including “Men in Black,” “The Matrix,” the “Bourne” collection.

At the end of the month, Hulu is wasting no time and will also clear out many of the titles in its holiday collection, meaning Dec. 31 will be your last opportunity to watch favorites such as “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation,” and “The Polar Express” on the streamer.

Bid farewell to 2023 by watching The Streamable’s Top 5 picks for what’s leaving the streamer this month, and check out the full list to make sure you catch your favorites one last time before they leave!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Leaving Hulu in December 2023? “An Education” | Sunday,...

Ferrell brings manic energy to this tale of an oversized elf called Buddy and it’s still a charmer after 20 years

Twenty years on, this has become a canonical Christmas comedy favourite. A jovial seasonal treat, from director Jon Favreau and screenwriter David Berenbaum, Elf was reportedly inspired by Tom Hanks in Big, but took on a life of its own once Will Ferrell became involved, improvising many of his lines and endowing the whole thing with a more ironised manic energy.

The film’s old-fashioned charm and sweet-natured Yuletide spirit has held up, although it interestingly seems attractive now more for these softer-edged qualities than for the straight-ahead SNL-type Will Ferrell comedy that it seemed to promise back in 2003, when Ferrell’s presence led us all to expect (and often get) something more vinegary and satirical, like Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa.

Ferrell plays the grotesquely huge...

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...

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Daniel Tay and Claire Lautier in a Central Park scene in Elf. Screenshot: The A.V. Club In our house, as in many others, it’s become a Christmas tradition to watch Elf at some point during the holiday season. It’s hard to believe we’ve been doing this for 20 years now.

Claire Lautier today, and during her appearance in Elf. (images courtesy Claire Lautier and Warner Bros.)Image: The A.V. Club

In our house, as in many others, it’s become a Christmas tradition to watch Elf at some point during the holiday season. It’s hard to believe we’ve...

I don't remember the first time I watched "Elf." I do not think this is uncommon. Often, the most beloved Christmas movies are those that play on TV the most often, and "Elf" is certainly a cable staple. But that's not the real reason it's one of the best Christmas movies of all time. "Elf" is a magical mixture of earnestness and silliness, New York City and the North Pole, and a bunch of actors who give their massive talents to make a classic, eminently lovable film.

"Elf" was released 20 years ago, on Nov. 7, 2003. Directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum, it tells the story of Buddy the elf, who is in fact not an elf at all but a human. Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, and it's one of his best performances. Ferrell often plays characters who aren't as smart as everyone else, but here, he does...

Buddy the Elf, the loveable human (played by Will Ferrell) adopted by the North Pole’s hardest-working holiday crew, has been spreading Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear for two decades To celebrate, Elf is taking over the Big Apple and rolling out exclusive collaborations for the family-friendly film’s 20th anniversary.

The heartwarming movie is currently streaming online at Max, and it will be available to stream on Hulu on Nov. 23. You can also buy Elf on Amazon’s Prime Video, Apple TV and other streaming-on-demand video platforms for $19.99, or you can purchase it on sale for up to 52 percent off on DVD and Blu-ray, and even on VHS tape. Those who want to relive the magic can see it in theaters in North America and the U.K. starting Nov. 17; learn more and buy tickets online at Fandango.

Stream 'Elf' on Prime Video...

Richard Moll, who played bald-headed bailiff Aristotle Nostradamus “Bull” Shannon on the NBC sitcom “Night Court,” died Thursday, a family spokesman said on Friday.

The 80-year-old passed away peacefully at his home in Big Bear Lake, California.

The 6’8″ actor rose to fame on the courtroom comedy, which starred Harry Anderson and John Larroquette and ran from 1984 to 1992. He did not appear in the recent Peacock reboot.

After “Night Court,” he landed a recurring role on the NBC sitcom starring Cindy Williams. He also guested on “Babylon 5,” “Anger Management,” “Cold Case,” “Smallville,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” and “7th Heaven.”

He lent his impressively deep voice to several animated shows as the voice of Harvey Dent/Two-Face on the ’90s Fox series “The Adventures of Batman & Robin” and Scorpion on “Spider-Man: The Animated Series.” He also voiced the bodyguard to the title character of the syndicated series “Mighty Max,” which...

Actor Richard Moll died Thursday at his home in Big Bear Lake, Calif. He was 80.

The deep-voiced, 6 foot 8 inch actor was best known for the role of the bailiff Bull Shannon in “Night Court,” co-starring Harry Anderson and John Larroquette, from 1984 to 1992.

Moll was nominated for a Saturn award for the 1985 horror movie “House.” He voiced the role of Harvey Dent/Two-Face on “The Adventures of Batman & Robin,” as well as Scorpion on “Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He also had parts in “The Flintstones,” “Jingle All the Way,” “Casper Meets Wendy” and “Scary Movie 2.”

He had a recurring role on sitcom “Getting By” starring Cindy Williams and voiced the bodyguard in “Mighty Max.”

Moll went on to appear in the 1999 satire “But I’m a Cheerleader” with Natasha Lyonne, in which he played a gay man who shepherded teenagers sent to a re-education camp by parents who suspected they were homosexual.

They’re awake! They’re alive! They’re together again! Yes, children of the '90s and fans of cult animated TV, our time has come - Gargoyles is returning. And, :a[per THR’s reporting]{href='https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/gargoyles-live-action-tv-show-reboot-1235342849/' }, this time the gang, stone by day and warriors by night, will be getting the live-action treatment, with The Conjuring Universe’s Gary Dauberman and James Wan at the helm.

Both veteran names in the creature-feature game, Dauberman and Wan are developing the series with Wan’s Atomic Monster, the production company behind M3GAN and Malignant among other recent years’ genre favourites. Dauberman - writer of the :a[Annabelle]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/annabelle-creation-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'} films, :a[The Nun]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/nun-2-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}, and co-writer on Andy Muschietti...

Disney Branded Television is in early development on a live-action reboot of the mid-90s animated television series Gargoyles for Disney+, Deadline has confirmed. The project hails from Annabelle writer Gary Dauberman and James Wan’s Atomic Monster.

Based on the cult classic Disney animated series, the reboot centers around Goliath, the last of a heroic race of gargoyle warriors who once lived among mankind. Free from a centuries long curse that turned him into stone, Goliath struggles to solve the mystery of his past while watching over modern-day New York City alongside police detective Elisa Maza.

Created by Greg Weisman, the original Walt Disney Television Animation series, which aired from 1994-1997, revolved around nocturnal creatures known as gargoyles that turn to stone during the day. They were awakened after being trapped in stone form for a thousand years in medieval Scotland , and are now battling in modern-day New York City.