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We present our interviews for the new take on William Tell from the film’s UK Premiere. The film stars Claes Bang, Connor Swindells, Ellie Bamber, Golshifteh Farahani, Jonah Hauer-King, Rafe Spall, Emily Beecham, Academy-Award nominee Jonathan Pryce and Academy-Award winner Ben Kingsley.

Written by Nick Hamm, adapted from Friedrich Schiller’s world-renowned classical play. The narrative unfolds in the 14th Century amidst the waning days of the Holy Roman Empire where Europe’s nations fiercely vie for supremacy and the ambitious Austrians, desiring more land, encroach upon Switzerland, a serene and pastoral nation.

The film is in cinemas from the 17th of January, 2025. Colin Hart and Abigail Shii were on the red carpet, here are their interviews.

William Tell UK Premiere Interviews

The post William Tell UK Premiere Interviews: Claes Bang, Ellie Bamber, Emily Beecham, Connor Swindells & more appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Quentin Tarantino is known for his gritty dialogues, over-the-top characters, non-linear storytelling, and geeky cinema references that only an avid movie lover like Tarantino himself could think to infuse into his storytelling. As Tarantino’s reputation grows as a filmmaker, he is widely regarded as one of the key practitioners of postmodernism in cinema. Postmodernity advocates the rejection of the grand narrative and asserts a subjective truth. In the context of 2009’s “Inglourious Basterds,” Tarantino masterfully creates this subjective truth by altering the historical events of the Second World War, offending some fans and critics who viewed it as a sick joke or a form of Holocaust denial.

We all know the evil of the Nazis and the horrors of the Holocaust in the context of history. But Tarantino allows himself to dissect the grand narrative of events and crafts a new truth, presenting a cool “Jewish vengeance” story rather...

Schwarzenegger. Stallone. Van Damme. Gibson. Snipes. Ford. When you make a list of the most popular action heroes of all time, there’s another name that needs to be added to that list – Liam Neeson. Over the last sixteen years, he’s headlined a neverending series of action thrillers that have propelled him to a much higher echelon of fame than he’d ever been on before, with him only ever becoming an action star once he was fifty-six. Ultimately, it was all due to a low-budget, European-financed action flick, which came very close to going direct-to-video and reached theatres in Europe a full year before it opened in North America. That movie is Taken, and we’re going to tell you how it revitalized the career of a man who – at the time – was generally considered a top-tier character actor with limited box office appeal. That’s right – it...

To kick off 2025, Netflix has added a new slate of films to its streaming library, highlighted by Dune: Part Two. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi blockbuster, which Consequence named the fourth best film of 2024, is streaming on the service as of January 1st.

Dune: Part Two, which stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, and more, remains available to stream on Max. The first Dune movie can also be streamed on both Netflix and Max. Additionally, both films are available to purchase together in 4K Uhd.

Other new titles available to stream on Netflix as of January 1st include Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire; Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1; The Watchers; Inception; Meet the Parents and its sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers; Apollo 13; Love Actually; Schindler’s List; the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy; Rush Hour franchise; and Bruce Almighty.

Philomena Cunk asking the big questions; the return of one of film history’s greatest villains; the start of a groundbreaking rights deal for live wrestling; an epic Western drama that captures the brutality of the American frontier; Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz headlining a spy caper; and Gabriel Basso returning to his breakout role are some of the highlights among the new films and series hitting Netflix in January.

On Jan. 2, we will see the welcome return of Philomena Cunk on Netflix, perhaps the world’s greatest investigative reporter who is simultaneously the worst informed person on TV. Born from the mind of Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, deadpan queen Diane Morgan stars once more as Cunk in Cunk on Life, a follow-up mockumentary series to Cunk on Earth and Cunk on Britain. In Cunk on Life, once again Cunk asks absurdist, baffling and genuinely hilarious questions about the...

Once upon a time, in the years before 2009 when "Taken" somehow took cinemas by storm, Liam Neeson used to act in all different kinds of movies. Before "Taken" and its many sequels, Neeson starred in movies ranging from the ultra-saccharine Christmas romantic comedy "Love Actually" to genre fare like "The Haunting" remake and "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace." He played Jean Valjean in the 1998 adaptation of "Les Misérables" and brought numerous historical figures to life, including Irish Republican Army founder Michael Collins, 18th-century Scottish highlander Rob Roy, and German industrialist and humanitarian Oskar Schindler. 

Unfortunately, since "Taken," Neeson pretty much only stars in action thrillers, like his absolutely abysmal 2022 movie "Blacklight," which is currently the prolific actor's lowest Rotten Tomatoes score. He starred in plenty of great films before that, however, including one of director Steven Spielberg's best movies: the multiple Academy Award-winning "Schindler's List." It should...

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This January, Netflix is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the highly anticipated second season of The Night Agent to an action comedy film titled Back in Action. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Netflix this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the seven best films that are coming to Netflix in January 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Apollo 13 (January 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Credit – Universal Pictures

Apollo 13 is a docudrama film directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay co-written by William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert. Based on the 1995 non-fiction book Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kruger, the 1995 film follows astronauts Lovell, Haise, and Swigert as they find themselves stranded on the moon after...

With a 200-minute running time, Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” (A24) isn’t unique among wide-release English-language films. In fact, it’s somewhat shorter than some major releases in recent decades.

There’s no standard for intermissions, which can vary between presentations, technical issues, or even elevating a film’s prestige. “The Brutalist” qualifies on all counts, but its intermission could herald a comeback: Audience habits have changed, and directors would love to use them to defend longer movies.

“The Brutalist” becomes 215 minutes start to finish with its precisely timed 15-minute break. Without it, it would be nine minutes shorter than “The Irishman”; about the same as “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “The Godfather Part II,” and George Stevens’ 1956 “Giant”; and about five minutes longer than “Schindler’s List” and “Titanic.” All were released without intermissions. Among major titles, “Gone with the Wind” is still the longest...

The IMDb top-250 is a curious portrait of populist taste. The list is, it's worth remembering, culled only from user ratings on the IMDb website, and, judging by the films on the list, the average IMDb user seems to be a college-age white male with a taste for crime, guns, fantasy, and the ultra-masculine. The top movies on the list all seem to be the types of movies that young men would own posters for, proudly displayed on their dorm room walls. There are many unassailable classics, to be sure, and young teens could easily look to the list as a rudimentary introduction to the world of cinema, but the list seems ... skewed. There's not a lot of variety. It's not curated by a single critic, nor even a panel of critics. It's just a general consensus of the taste of the types of people who like to rate movies on IMDb.

Steven Spielberg is not just one of the best directors of all time, but he's also an avid cinephile. It's all the more curious, then, that he has a rather peculiar opinion about the "Star Wars" franchise.

Back in 2002, Spielberg told Cinescape that, out of all the "Star Wars" movies made up to that point, "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" was "my second favorite just behind ['The Empire Strikes Back']," as the filmmaker put it. "It was great. The action scenes looked like George [Lucas] had been inspired by James Cameron because they were as good as any of the action scenes in ['Terminator 2: Judgement Day'], and I think George did his best directing with this one too."

Now, who am I to argue with Spielberg about his personal opinion? Still, it's funny that he heaped praise on "Attack of the Clones," itself perhaps the maligned out of the prequel trilogy.

British actor Ralph Fiennes, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, is now in his 60s with a celebrated career as a leading star and character actor.

He often plays compromised men on the big screen such as his Austrian Nazi Amon Göth, who oversees the building of a concentration camp in Poland in “Schindler’s List.” In 2011, Fiennes made his big-screen directorial debut and also starred in Shakespeare’s tragedy “Coriolanus.” He starred, produced and directed 2013’s “The Invisible Woman,” where he portrayed Charles Dickens. Most notably, Fiennes has been in several Best Picture Oscar winners including 1993’s “Schindler’s List,” 1996’s “The English Patient” and 2009’s “The Hurt Locker.” His 2022 movie “The Menu” brought him a Golden Globe nomination in the comedy/musical category. And his 2024 film “Conclave” delivered some of the best reviews of his career plus nominations from all of the major film awards.

In our photo gallery,...

The career of director Steven Spielberg has practically defined modern blockbusters, but he’s also been able to craft more personal films as well. Let’s rank Spielberg’s entire filmography from worst to best in a new photo gallery of his 33 theatrical features.

Spielberg’s reputation as a master entertainer came with the release of “Jaws,” his 1975 shark attack thriller. Made when he was just 29 years old, the film set box office records and made the summer safe for blockbusters again. Such following films as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) cemented Spielberg’s ability to create spectacular amusements that brought audiences to their feet.

He later moved into serious filmmaking with “The Color Purple” (1985), which paved the way for his 1993 Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List” (1993). That film swept the Academy Awards, bringing Spielberg Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

Steven Spielberg carved a name for himself as one of the greatest filmmakers in Hollywood because of his ingenious imagination when it comes to making movies. It’s easy to see the passion in his works, and this is all thanks to one person who helped nurture his God-given talent.

Credits: Steven Spielberg via CBS News

The director’s mother, Leah Adler, was one of his biggest supporters. In fact, she helped him skip school so he could practice his moviemaking skills. As an artist herself – an accomplished pianist who studied at Cincinatti’s Conservatory of Music – she understood the creativity in her son just aching to burst forth.

Steven Spielberg’s Mother Encouraged His Passion for Filmmaking by Forging Sick Notes

In an interview with 60 Minutes via CBS in 1992, Steven Spielberg’s mother, Leah Adler, spoke about how she encouraged her son to explore and expand his knowledge...

Geniuses often behave a bit differently from the normal world. Just look at Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. Although Steven Spielberg might be a genius when it comes to directing films but that didn’t mean that the director was safe from the tragedies of real-life.

George Lucas & Steven Spielberg on the sets of Raiders of the Lost Ark | Credits: Paramount Pictures

It was in the early 1980s when Spielberg was briefly involved with his former wife Amy Irving. Having a rough start since the beginning, the couple divorced in 1989 and Spielberg apparently tried to get out of the settlement by producing a prenup… written on a bar napkin.

When Steven Spielberg met Amy Irving

Spielberg and Star Wars director George Lucas were quite good friends when they were working together in Hollywood. Amy Irving, who was an actress, came to audition for the role of Princess Leia...

While Hollywood has played a prominent role in giving a voice to the martyrs through war drama and historical documentaries, more often than not, these stories get swept up in overly patriotic sentiments rather than giving precedence to factual accuracy. But Steven Spielberg has singlehandedly managed to harness both expansive cinematography as well as emotional storytelling through his research into world war stories.

Band of Brothers [Credit: HBO]

Through an obsessive retelling of World War II stories, Spielberg has never grown bored or tired of the era that has caused so much grief, strife, and pain among the people. With films like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Schindler’s List, Munich, and Bridge of Spies, the Oscar-winning director has shed more light on the war than any other director.

However, not all of them have been received well by the audience.

Steven Spielberg’s obsession with World War II Band of Brothers...

Kathleen Kennedy is set to be honored by the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) with the 2025 ASC Board of Governors Award, the organization announced Wednesday.

The ceremony will take place Feb. 23 at the 39th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards Gala at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The ceremony will be streamed live worldwide.

In a statement, ASC President Shelly John said that “Kathleen Kennedy’s extraordinary career has left an enduring mark on the world of cinema. Her keen eye for storytelling is unparalleled. She consistently brings forth projects that elevate and confirm her trust in the director and cinematographer relationship. Recognizing it as the backbone of great filmmaking, her movies consistently showcase this belief. Her dedication to visual excellence has made her a true trailblazer in the film industry.”

Kennedy was previously a recipient of the 2018 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which was bestowed upon her by The...

The American Society of Cinematographers will honor Oscar-nominated producer and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy with its 2025 Board of Governors Award at the ASC’s Feb. 23 awards gala in Beverly Hills.

“Kathleen Kennedy’s extraordinary career has left an enduring mark on the world of cinema,” said ASC President Shelly Johnson. “Her keen eye for storytelling is unparalleled. She consistently brings forth projects that elevate and confirm her trust in the director and cinematographer relationship. Recognizing it as the backbone of great filmmaking, her movies consistently showcase this belief. Her dedication to visual excellence has made her a true trailblazer in the film industry.”

The ASC Board of Governors Award recognizes individuals in the industry whose body of work has made significant and indelible contributions to cinema. It is reserved for filmmakers who are champions for directors of photography and the visual art form.

Kennedy is an eight-time Oscar nominee and...

The third annual Dances With Films NY festival announced their wins on Dec. 11, celebrating new talent in the world of independent film.

The audience choice winners were Kristen Hansen’s “Sonny Boy” for best narrative feature and Mikaela Shwer’s “The Kids Are Not Alright” for best documentary feature.

This year, the newly established Midnight category spotlighted genre films. The winners in this section were Andrew Bell’s “Bleeding” for best midnight feature and Benedict Chiu’s “Boy Band” for best midnight short. Dances With Films also provides a platform for pilots and proof of concept projects, with the audience winner being Ruthie Marantz’s “Raging Doll.”

For the industry awards, Chris Beier’s “The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia” won in the “Over 40 Minutes” category while Matthew Perkins’ “Fortune” won in the “Under 40 Minutes” category.

Over the course of four days, the festival screened 146 films, including 92 short films, 22 narrative and midnight features,...

Since the first awards ceremony in 1929, the Academy Awards — colloquially known as the Oscars — have chosen the "best picture" in cinema every single year, with varying results. Still, a lot of the time, the Oscars at least gets it sort of right; to use a recent example, "The Shape of Water" is a good movie, but it was also competing against "Get Out" and "Lady Bird," so even a well-liked film like Guillermo del Toro's unexpected love story can spark a larger discussion about the Oscars and how they choose their winners. But I digress. Some of the historical best picture winners are (almost) universally beloved, with 99% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.

With acclaimed films like "Moonlight" and "Schindler's List" not far behind on Rotten Tomatoes' ranking of every best picture winner in Oscars history (both movies have a 98% rating), the following four films are, apparently, pretty close to perfect.

Exclusive: We can tell you that Frankie Shaw’s feature directorial debut, the dark comedy 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, starring Liam Neeson, has nabbed a domestic distribution deal with Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion label, as well as Miramax boarding as financier and producer. In addition, Deadline can show you first these photos from the set.

The movie, which reps a re-team between Shaw and Neeson after the latter’s action title, Absolution, began production earlier this week in Ireland.

Kinofilms Inc, and Picturestart are also financing. FilmNation is handling international sales. Deadline first told you about the package coming together out of TIFF when FilmNation launched sales.

Based on the Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss graphic novel, and steeped in ’90s nostalgia, 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank centers around Paige who has just lost her mother. Her grandfather steps into to become a more responsible guardian. When...

On Monday December 2 2024, Bravo broadcasts Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen!

Season 21 Episode 194 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” promises to be an exciting one, featuring two intriguing guests: Stephanie Hsu and Ralph Fiennes. This episode is sure to bring a mix of entertainment and insightful conversation, as both guests have made significant contributions to the world of film and television.

Stephanie Hsu, known for her standout role in the hit film “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” has captured audiences with her talent and charisma. Her journey in the entertainment industry has been impressive, and her presence on the show is expected to shed light on her experiences and upcoming projects. Fans of her work will likely be eager to hear her thoughts on her career and the creative process behind her roles.

Ralph Fiennes, a seasoned actor with a remarkable filmography,...

The Hollywood Reporter won 13 awards at the 17th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, including best website and online journalist of the year for Mesfin Fekadu.

The awards were handed out Sunday night by the Los Angeles Press Club at a gala taking place at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Other THR wins included Seth Abramovitch’s Cheryl Hines cover story as best personality profile, TV/streaming industry over 2,500 words; Scott Feinberg’s oral history of Schindler’s List as best film industry feature over 1,000 words; Lacey Rose’s Dan Harmon interview for best TV industry feature under 1,000 words; and David Rooney’s ranking of Hollywood’s 20 most erotic movies as best film feature, production/history.

In the celebrity investigation category, THR‘s story “Will Ferrell on Navigating His Best Friend’s Transition in ‘Will & Harper,'” with reporting from Seija Rankin, Jason Rovou, Stephanie Fischette,...

Whether he was busy shooting the Old West, or literally shooting people in the Old West, some of Kevin Costner's best films have been the ones he directed himself. The former "Yellowstone" star and Oscar-winning director created films like "Dances with Wolves," and "Open Range," and is currently trying to bring his "Horizon" saga to completion. But there was one film outside of Costner's wheelhouse that he had his eye on: "Schindler's List" the true story of the German businessman whose industrial forward thinking became an asset in saving over 1,000 Jewish people from concentration camps in WWII.

The project ended up in the hands of acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who won multiple Oscars for the film. But during an appearance on "The Howard Stern Show," Costner explained just how much he wanted to be involved in the project. Like so many of the other movies under his directing belt,...

In today’s modern landscape of the film industry, directors have been replaced by the concept of ‘franchise,’ often, fans decide to watch a movie based on the franchises they are part of instead of who is directing, writing, or starring in the film. Although this is not the case for every film and fan out there, such is a practice prevalent across the world.

Acclaimed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg | Image by Dick Thomas Johnson-Creative Commons Attribution 2.0-Wikimedia Commons

Yet, even in the midst of these changing times, there are some directors whose acclaim and name have even toppled franchises, and one such name is Steven Spielberg. However, he might be at the risk of losing his ‘untouchable’ box office record due to the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars and Avatar 3.

Steven Spielberg’s Unparalleled Box Office Record Credits: Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park / Universal Pictures

Steven Spielberg...

The Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece “The Godfather” (1972) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Picture winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 29 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 96 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is the Michael Curtiz classic “Casablanca” (1943). Following in third place is the powerful Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” (1993). Rounding out the top five are Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” (1974) in fourth place and Billy Wilder‘s “The Apartment” (196o) in fifth place.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Picture winners is “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) from Cecil B. DeMille. Just above that film in the rankings are “Cimarron” (1931) from Wesley Ruggles, “The Broadway Melody” (1929) from Harry Beaumont, “Crash” (2005) from Paul Haggis, and “Around the World in 80 Days’ (1956) from Michael Anderson.

Our photo gallery above features the full top 10. See the complete rankings of all 96 films below.

The Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece “The Godfather” (1972) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Picture winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 29 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 96 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is the Michael Curtiz classic “Casablanca” (1943). Following in third place is the powerful Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” (1993). Rounding out the top five are Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” (1974) in fourth place and Billy Wilder‘s “The Apartment” (196o) in fifth place.

The worst among 96 Best Picture winners is “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) from Cecil B. DeMille. Just above that film on the bottom of the rankings are “Cimarron” (1931) from Wesley Ruggles, “The Broadway Melody” (1929) from Harry Beaumont, “Crash” (2005) from Paul Haggis, and “Around the World in 80 Days’ (1956) from Michael Anderson.

Our photo gallery below features the full top 10. See the complete rankings of all 96 films below.

When Polish cinematographer Michal Dymek first read the script for “The Girl With the Needle” – the winner of this year’s Camerimage main prize – he says he could instantly see the scenes in his mind: stark, shadowy images of a decrepit Danish slum, where sweatshop workers during World War I bend over creaking machinery.

He saw classical onscreen shot compositions framing crumbling, claustrophobic spaces where desperate people are ensnared.

“It was amazing, strong – like the best script I ever read,” says Dymek. He knew instantly that the film had to be in black and white, he says. “I wanted to create a time machine. All we know of that time is from black and white photographs so we had to film that.”

Over the two years of prep time, as the production grew into a Danish-Swedish-Polish project, says Dymek, Leica Hugo lenses were decided on to help create the distortions...

One might think, looking at the above headline, that this will be an article about the legendary composer John Williams, but that is not the case. Williams, perhaps shockingly, has only won five Oscars in his decades-long career, specifically for "Fiddler on the Roof," "Jaws," "Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," and "Schindler's List." The famed composer, however, has been nominated for more Oscars than anyone in history (save for one), having been recognized 54 times since 1968. Williams' most recent nomination was for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."

Others might also think of director John Ford or actor Katharine Hepburn as the most decorated talents in Oscars history, but they each only have four wins to their names. To be fair, winning four Oscars in one's field is still a huge achievement. Also, Ford holds the record as the most awarded director, and Hepburn the most awarded actor.

Josh O’Connor, the increasingly high-profile star of “The Crown” and “Challengers,” has joined the cast of Steven Spielberg’s secretive next film, Variety reports.

O’Connor joins the previously announced Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Eve Hewson in the film, which is scheduled for May 15, 2026 from Universal.

The project will reunite Spielberg with his “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp and is expected to have sci-fi elements. Spielberg’s longtime collaborator Kristie Macosko Krieger is producer. The studio describes the film as a “new original event film.” The release date and rumored UFO subject matter indicates that Spielberg is returning to the blockbuster style of his films involving aliens like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” and “War of the Worlds.”

O’Connor won an Emmy for his performance as Prince Charles on “The Crown” Season 4, and earned rave reviews for his performance as troubled...

“Challengers” star Josh O’Connor has joined the cast of Steven Spielberg’s new film.

As previously announced, Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo and Eve Hewson will round out the call sheet on the yet-to-be-titled film. Universal Pictures will release the movie on May 15, 2026.

Spielberg is directing from a script by David Koepp, whose previous work with the filmmaker includes “Jurassic Park,” “War of the Worlds” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” The studio has described the project as a “new original event film,” though specific plot details haven’t been revealed. The screenplay is based on a story by Spielberg and expected to incorporate sci-fi elements. Kristie Macosko Krieger, who has collaborated with Spielberg on everything from “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” to “West Side Story,” will serve as a producer.

O’Connor is best known for “The Crown,” in which he portrayed Prince Charles on...

Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg are set to executive produce a new Javier Bardem-led thriller series for Apple TV+ based on “Cape Fear,” a film with ties to both Scorsese and Spielberg.

Apple TV+ has granted a series order for “Cape Fear,” which will be written and showrun by Nick Antosca. Antosca will executive produce alongside Scorsese, Spielberg and Bardem.

The series is based on John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel “The Executioners,” which inspired Gregory Peck’s 1962 film adaptation, “Cape Fear.” In the late 1980s, Steven Spielberg was attached to direct a new adaptation, but he passed the film over to friend Scorsese so he could make “Schindler’s List” instead. Scorsese cast Robert De Niro in the role that will be filled by Bardem, and the resulting 1991 film “Cape Fear” was a commercial success and scored Oscar nods for De Niro and Juliette Lewis.

The 10-episode “Cape Fear” show...

The filming of "Schindler's List" was, to put it mildly, a difficult experience for Steven Spielberg. Principal photography took place in Poland in and around many of the concentration camps where Jewish captives were murdered en masse. The weight should be too much for any human being to bear, and it absolutely cut through Spielberg. As he said in Joseph McBride's "Steven Spielberg: A Biography": "I was hit in the face with my personal life. My upbringing. My Jewishness. The stories my grandparents told me about the Shoah. And Jewish life came pouring back into my heart. I cried all the time."

This was not fertile grounds for laughs, but to get through the making of such a soul-scarring motion picture, Spielberg needed some semblance of levity. And so, when he knocked off for the day, he would repair to his quarters in Poland and find lighthearted solace...

Steven Spielberg was bullied as a kid? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Yep, you read that right—Steven Spielberg, one of the most celebrated filmmakers of all time, was bullied for being Jewish. Crazy, right? The man who gave us E.T., Schindler’s List, and countless other iconic films wasn’t immune to the sting of hate growing up. Spielberg himself recently opened up about how those experiences shaped him.

Speaking candidly, Spielberg recalled moving to Westin, where he encountered anti-Semitism for the first time. “Being Jewish and being raised additionally in the area where there weren’t a lot of Jews… I moved to Westin, and I encountered anti-Semitism as an elementary school student,” he said. At first, he didn’t even recognize it for what it was. “I didn’t think of it as hate but thought of it as a shame,” Spielberg explained. It wasn’t just a casual...

In this week's installment of "What people choose to watch on streamers will never make sense," the aughts comedy "Norbit" is somehow one of the most-watched movies on Amazon's Prime Video. This exceedingly random news comes courtesy of viewership data site FlixPatrol, which as of publication time has the widely panned Eddie Murphy vehicle hovering at number five on its list of the 10 most-watched Prime Video movies in North America. Sure, why not?

To be fair to "Norbit," subscribers seem to be having an odd week in general, with Adam Sandler's "The Longest Yard" also making the list and two Christmas films, "Almost Christmas" and "The Holiday," already entering Prime Video's upper echelons. Still, it's remarkable to see that more people are reportedly watching "Norbit" than are watching newer Prime Video originals, like the Peter Dinklage and Josh Brolin-led action comedy "Brothers" (currently number seven on the streaming...

Ralph Fiennes may be turning heads this awards season for his buzzy performance as Cardinal Lawrence in “Conclave,” but the two-time Academy Award nominee is showing off a different set of skills in epic saga “The Return.”

Fiennes stars as the iconic hero Odysseus in the TIFF-selected feature, which is co-written, directed, and produced by Uberto Pasolini, who previously moved viewers to tears this year with “Nowhere Special.” Juliette Binoche plays Odysseus’ wife Penelope, who has to protect the throne in the aftermath of the Trojan War.

The official synopsis reads: “After 20 years away, Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The King has returned from the Trojan War, but much has changed in his kingdom. His beloved wife Penelope (Binoche) is a prisoner in her own home, hounded by suitors vying to be king. Their son Telemachus faces death at the hands of these suitors,...

John Williams “has made a gigantic contribution to the world of music at large, beginning with making film music legitimate but also his concert work.” For our recent webchat, director and producer Laurent Bouzereau makes that claim about the subject of his new documentary “Music by John Williams,” which now streaming on Disney+. In fact, Bouzereau ranks Williams as the #1 composer of the 20th century, ahead of Gershwin, McCartney/Lennon and Simon, adding, “My argument is that there are very few people” (especially who started in the 1960s and 1970s) who “have survived the test of time.”

He admits that he’s “been preparing for this my entire life” by watching the films of Steven Spielberg with the scores by maestro Williams. He adds that it’s “an honor to be the one who tells this story, because I’m not the first one to approach John. He said ‘no’ many times,...

Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Joan of Arc movie has been in the works for decades.

“This is something he’s talked about for 30 years,” his wife and creative partner Catherine Martin told me Saturday at the Lacma Art+Film Gala, where Luhrmann was honored alongside sculptor Simone Leigh.

The teenaged Joan of Arc became a heroine after leading the French army to victory in Orléans in 1429 before being burned at the stake in 1431. Warner Bros. confirmed in September that Luhrmann was taking on the epic tale of France’s national heroine and saint Joan of Arc.

The film is based on “Blood Red, Sister Rose,” the 1974 novel about Joan of Arc by “Schindler’s List” author Thomas Keneally.

“I almost did Alexander the Great and then at one point I was going down the road on Napoleon, but more than ever, I realized I was waiting for the right time to...

I’ve been lucky in my job at JoBlo to interview a lot of the legends I grew up watching on the silver screen, but until recently I never had the chance to chat with one of the all-timers, Liam Neeson. I was a monster fan of his from way back, even before he reinvented his career thanks to the breakout success of Taken. I grew up watching him in movies like Darkman, Rob Roy, Schindler’s List, and many others.

But, the thing is – when you interview a legend, there’s always that worry that they might let you down. Suffice it to say that was Not the case with Neeson, who proved to be an affable, friendly, and down-to-earth fellow. I had a very nice conversation with him about his latest movie, Absolution, in which he plays an aging thug trying to atone for past misdeeds. While our internet...

(L-r): John Williams and Steven Spielberg in Lucasfilm’s Music By John Williams, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & Tm. All Rights Reserved. If you’re a movie fan, chances are you’ve spent more time listening to John Williams’s music than the Beatles, Taylor Swift, or any other musician. Over the course of his 70-year career, Williams has written the scores and/or themes to hundreds of films, earning an amazing 54 Oscar nominations along the way. (He’s won five times.) He had a Top 10 pop hit with the main title theme from Star Wars back in 1977, and his music has been featured in all of the Star Wars films, but Williams’s most enduring partnership may well be with Steven Spielberg. Three of Williams’s Oscar wins came from Spielberg’s movies — Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Schindler’s List — and they’ve worked together on several other films,...

Will the Oscars answer “Conclave’s” prayers?

Edward Berger’s mystery thriller has been one of the buzziest films to emerge from the fall festivals. Adapted from Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, the film premiered at Telluride, where it received raves from attendees. Since then, its awards prospects have grown, especially following its Audience Award wins at the Mill Valley and Middleburg fests. Those regional accolades helped propel future best picture nominees such as “American Fiction” (2023) and “Belfast” (2021) and best picture winner “Green Book” (2018). “Conclave” has popular appeal, but will its religious themes be an advantage or a potential hurdle in the Oscar race?

Read: You can see all Academy Award predictions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit.

Rossellini with “Conclave” director Edward Berger

Films that explore issues of faith, and the Catholic Church’s tangled history, have long held a unique place in Hollywood. Critics, and sometimes audiences,...

Early in director Laurent Bouzereau’s “Music by John Williams” documentary (streaming November 1 on Disney+), Steven Spielberg explains that he was worried about the demise of orchestral film scoring in the early ’70s while embarking on his directing career. He was determined that this emotionally stirring, if anachronistic, format would not die on his watch, so he hired John Williams to score his first theatrical feature, “The Sugarland Express” (1974).

Williams (who caught the director’s attention in 1969 with “The Reivers”) surprised Spielberg with an intimate harmonica solo (played by Toots Thielmans) that helped elevate the movie in a way he didn’t expect. Thus began the greatest director-composer collaboration in the history of movies, with Spielberg making 29 films with Williams and admitting that the composer has been indispensable to each and every one of them.

But it was their second film together, “Jaws” (1975), that propelled their careers. With two unforgettable...

“Conclave” star and presumed Oscar Best Actor nominee Ralph Fiennes will receive the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award at the 40th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, festival organizers announced on Wednesday.

“Ralph Fiennes is one of the most gifted actors working in both cinema and theatre and has bequeathed us with so many memorable and extraordinary performances. He outdoes himself in “Conclave” – bestowing us with what may be the best work in his already legendary career” noted Sbiff’s Executive Director Roger Durling in a statement.

The honor will take place on Thursday, February 6, 2025. Fiennes is among the top contenders to receive a Best Actor nomination thanks to his work in the Edward Berger papal thriller. If nominated, it would be his third overall. Fiennes was previously nominated by the Academy for “Schindler’s List” in the Best Supporting Actor category, and “The English Patient” in the Best Actor category.

The Hollywood Reporter earned 53 nominations for the 17th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, including best website and two noms for journalist of the year.

Seth Abramovitch was nominated for print journalist of the year, Mesfin Fekadu for online journalist of the year, Lovia Gyarkye for best film critic and Daniel Fienberg for best television critic. David Rooney was nominated for best theater and performing arts critic, and Fekadu was again nominated for best music critic.

In the celebrity investigation category, Gary Baum was nominated for his June 2024 story “Get Me Bryan Freedman!” which followed the entertainment power lawyer in his work with clients such as Megyn Kelly, Bethenny Frankel, Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon. THR‘s story “Will Ferrell on Navigating His Best Friend’s Transition in ‘Will & Harper'” was also nominated in the same category, with reporting from Seija Rankin, Jason Rovou, Stephanie Fischette and editors-in-chief...

Ralph Fiennes is the type of actor that’s so consistently excellent that it’s paradoxically easy to take him for granted. Equally at home as a supporting player as a leading man, Fiennes has steadily been turning in great onscreen turns for three decades since his 1993 breakout, and he’s been celebrated with two Oscar nominations. But he hasn’t been recognized since the ’90s, despite a growing body of immaculate, perfectly-calibrated performances.

For many, Fiennes is most famous as a villain, utilizing his icy blue eyes for menacing effect. He broke out and received his first Oscar nomination in 1993 playing infamous Nazi war criminal Amon Göth in “Schindler’s List,” giving a pitiless and terrifying performance. In 2005, he was introduced to a whole new generation of audience members as the serpentine, ghastly, resurrected Voldemort in “Harry Potter,” which remains perhaps his best known role.

Yet Fiennes, an actor who...

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"Jaws" is a movie that needs no introduction, made by a director who similarly needs no introduction. Steven Spielberg is one of the most well-known, respected, and popular directors in cinema history. When all's said and done, he may be considered the best to ever do it. Even so, against his incredible body of work which includes classics like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Schindler's List," his major studio debut about a killer shark terrorizing a small town remains one of his finest hours. Even though he was green as a filmmaker, he was ambitious. Case in point, he broke an unwritten Hollywood rule in making his 1975 classic.

In a 2006 interview with the Directors Guild of America, Spielberg reflected on the making of "Jaws," which was famously plagued with issues. The shark, affectionately referred to as "Bruce," was breaking all the time.

Readers who regularly follow Gold Derby’s Oscar predictions may have noticed a movie quietly working its way up the ranks in various categories. That movie is “Conclave,” an adaptation of Robert Harris‘s best-selling 2016 novel, which was released nationwide by Focus Features on Friday, October 25. So now seems like a good time to look at which categories “Conclave” can thrive in.

Directed by Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front“), the movie follows Ralph Fiennes‘s Cardinal Lawrence, who has taken on the less than envious task of running the elections to select a new pope after the previous pontiff dies suddenly. Many cardinals are in the running, and some even want Lawrence to take on that lofty role, until someone lurking in the shadows begins revealing dirt on the candidates.

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It begins with Jaws. Of course it begins with Jaws. Has any composer in history utilised two simple notes — an alternating pattern between E and F — so effectively? So iconically? It feels obvious to begin a documentary entitled Music By John Williams with perhaps his most famous work, but it also feels like there would be no other way to begin.

This film comes from Laurent Bouzereau, a prolific author and documentarian who has made making-of films for Steven Spielberg for decades, and has written at least three books on the filmmaker, including last year’s Spielberg: The First Ten Years. Bouzereau has even made a documentary on Williams before — 2017’s TV film Steven Spielberg & John Williams: The Adventure Continues. So, there is certainly a sense of well-trodden ground here, and it’s a fairly cosy portrait between regular collaborators, rather than a probing journalistic inquiry.

Does an excellent job of capturing his importance.

Can a great actor be taken for granted?

It’s been 30 years since Ralph Fiennes broke out as vicious Nazi Amon Goeth in “Schindler’s List,” which earned him his first Oscar nomination, followed three years later by his second, for the romantic adventure “The English Patient.” While he has labored in the commercial trenches on three Bond films (as M) and four Harry Potter installments (as Lord Voldemort), Fiennes has delivered many Oscar-worthy performances over the decades. Somehow, they were overlooked by the Academy Actors branch.

In short, he’s overdue. “Conclave” is their opportunity to set things right.

Edward Berger’s follow-up to Oscar-winning German war film “All Quiet on the Western Front” is a total crowdpleaser. The English-language “Conclave,” adapted by Peter Straughan from Robert Harris’s bestselling thriller, played well at Telluride and Toronto (Metascore 78), followed by audience awards at the regional festivals Middleburg and Mill Valley.

At the premiere of Disney+ doc Music by John Williams on opening night of AFI Fest on Wednesday, Steven Spielberg took some time to reflect on his longtime collaboration with the legendary composer.

The duo have worked on nearly 30 films together, including Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List and the Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones franchises. Spielberg serves as producer on the new Williams documentary and inside the Los Angeles screening, recalled how for several years the two would host fundraiser concerts for orchestras around the country. The filmmaker would play a scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with no music first, joking the four-minute scene would feel like 14 minutes. And then the scene would replay with Williams leading an orchestra, making the four minutes feel like 90 seconds.

“That is the miracle of film scoring and that is the consistent miracle of John Williams, what he has brought to all...

From the deep, quickening heartbeat of “Jaws” to the astral opening blast of “Star Wars,” the music of John Williams not only earns its place among the most iconic film scores of all time, but it also proves memorable enough to carry with us out of the cinema. So effective are his themes that to hum just a few notes of a Williams score is to be caught up in the same emotions you felt gazing up at the big screen in the first place, watching Superman take flight over Manhattan or Elliott and E.T. bicycle across the moon.

At age 92, the maestro has received no shortage of accolades — from institutions, admirers and his peers in the Academy — and yet, Williams has long resisted requests to turn the cameras around on him. “Music by John Williams” does just that, featuring extensive interviews with the composer, plus glowing endorsements from...